Seminary bids farewell to Safwat Marzouk
In July, Safwat Marzouk concluded his roles as associate professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and chair of the Bible Department at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), after 10 years of service. He is now serving as associate professor of Old Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Va. Marzouk, who came to AMBS in July…
Rituals for reconnecting as we emerge from the pandemic
Each year in the Christian worship: Theory and practice class at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, students spend a couple of weeks considering rituals. “Classic” rituals like baptism, communion, weddings and funerals, while important, don’t exhaust the need for ritual action, so students are asked to create new rituals that emerge at the intersection of a…
MWC and AMBS partnership opens access to Anabaptist education
Mennonites around the globe yearn for Anabaptist theological education, identity formation and leadership development, but attending an Anabaptist-related college, university or seminary has not been possible for Mennonites in many countries. A new partnership has been designed to respond to this need. Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Ind., have…
!Explore nurtures youth who are passionate about the church
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) leaders of !Explore: A Theological Program for High School Youth are planning for a robust opportunity for teens to deepen their faith, expand their soul and imagine their place in God’s kingdom in the summer of 2021. “!Explore offers a chance to…
AMBS doubles church matching grants
ELKHART, IND.—Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) is doubling its dollar-for-dollar church matching grant from $1,000 to $2,000 per academic year, beginning in the 2020-21 school year. The grant matches contributions that congregations, conferences and regional churches make toward a student’s tuition costs for graduate-level study at AMBS. Through the church matching grant, full-time admitted students…
Is technology on ‘Team Human’?
Elkhart, Ind.—In an age when people turn instinctively to Siri for directions, Mennonite church leaders and educators found that Divine Lady Wisdom’s words from Proverbs have an amazing wealth of guidance for navigating digital culture. Lady Wisdom, six fools—Schemer, Scoffer, Gossip, Lazybones, Glutton and Adulterer—and a wise person all emerged from the pages of the…
Engaging Anabaptist theology in community—at a distance
Randall Koehler wants to explore how Anabaptist theology might shape the mission of the church in a rural context. Koehler, who lives with his family in Benson, Ill.—a rural community whose population was 423 in the 2010 census—is able to pursue this interest from home as a student in the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS)…
A fuller explanation of the AMBS presidential search
Following the appointment of the next president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), details are emerging regarding what led the search committee to enter an “extended discernment” period and, in turn, what the search committee learned during that time. The AMBS board of directors on Sept. 10 announced the appointment of David W. Boshart, who…
Seminary short course offers congregations tools for engaging conflict
Betty Pries, a conflict management specialist based in Waterloo, Ont., provides mediation, coaching and consulting services for businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments and congregations. For six weeks each year, she also leads an online short course of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) as a sessional faculty member. In Transforming Congregational Conflict and Communication, Pries and her…
Boshart next AMBS president despite expressed concerns
David W. Boshart, Ph.D., of Wellman, Iowa, has been appointed the next president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Ind., effective Jan. 1, 2020, following a period of “extended discernment” that included “outreach to and listening sessions with the AMBS community,” according to board chair Bruce Baergen of Edmonton. Boshart succeeds Sara Wenger Shenk,…
