Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Recently, twenty-three clergy from the Staunton-Augusta area have signed a joint statement speaking out against Christian nationalism, and this Friday, June 5, the conversation is coming to Trinity Episcopal Church.

Dr. Jacob Alan Cook, professor of Christian Ethics at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will give a talk and take questions on the question at the center of it all: What is Christian nationalism, and why does it matter?

The event is free, open to all, and co-hosted by Trinity Episcopal, Christ Lutheran, and Christ United Methodist.

>> What is Christian Nationalism? Community in Conversation
>> Friday, June 5 at 6:00 p.m.
>> Trinity Episcopal Church, downtown Staunton
>> Light refreshments to follow.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-in-conversation-what-is-christian-nationalism-tickets-1989912156828

Jonny Rashid is pursuing his Doctor of Ministry in Peacemaking and Social Change at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, and this week Mennonite Church USA named him a recipient of their 2026-27 Scholarship for BIPOC Students.

The scholarship supports students who are members or active participants of an MC USA congregation and are attending an MC USA-affiliated school. Jonny, who serves as pastor at West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, was recognized for his commitment to deepening his understanding of peacemaking and social change.

We are grateful for Jonny and proud to walk alongside him in this work. Congratulations!

Read the full announcement:
https://www.mennoniteusa.org/news/five-receive-bipoc-scholarships/

Twenty-three clergy in Staunton and Augusta County recently signed a letter naming Christian Nationalism a sin.

The letter, calls communities back to the basics of their baptismal vows: to seek justice, welcome the stranger, and resist idolatry in all its forms. It is a statement that begins not with politics but with faith.

Now those same congregations are taking the next step. On Friday, June 5 at 6:00 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Staunton is hosting a community conversation: "What is Christian Nationalism?"

Dr. Jacob Cook, professor of Christian Ethics at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will give a talk and take questions. Light refreshments will follow.

The event is free and open to all. It is co-hosted by Trinity Episcopal, Christ Lutheran, and Christ United Methodist.

If you are in the Staunton area and want to think carefully about where faith ends and ideology begins, this is a conversation worth having in person.

Read more about the context surrounding this event here:
https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2026/03/03/23-staunton-augusta-clergy-speak-up-against-christian-nationalism/88506399007/

Staunton clergy call Christian Nationalism a sin A letter, signed by 23 religious leaders, states that Christian Nationalism distorts the message of Christ by equating faith with political power.

This month, EMS hosted something we've been excited about for a while.

Two days of pastors, chaplains, and lay leaders digging into family systems theory and what it means for ministries across the country. We co-hosted with The Bowen Center, with support from the Lilly Endowment.

Dr. Robert Creech and Dr. Dan Papero gave the keynotes. Creech on where systems thinking meets pastoral care and preaching. Papero on the neuroscience of stress and what it does to us. Workshops covered preaching, biblical studies, parenting, the daily stuff.

It was the kind of room where people actually exhaled. That's the work.

Read more: https://emu.edu/now/news/2026/seminary-hosts-thriving-in-ministry-conference/

What does Christian nationalism mean for the church AND for the neighborhood?

That question is at the center of a free public conversation happening in Staunton on Friday, June 5.

Dr. Jacob Cook, professor of Christian Ethics at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will offer a talk and take questions at Trinity Episcopal Church, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments and continued conversation will follow.

The event is co-hosted by Trinity Episcopal, Christ Lutheran, and Christ United Methodist, three congregations coming together around a question that belongs to all of us.

Whether you are a longtime churchgoer, a curious skeptic, or somewhere in between, you are welcome at the table.

Free admission. All are welcome.

Trinity Episcopal Church, 214 W. Beverley St., Staunton, VA
Questions? Contact Trinity Church at [email protected]

You know, conflict is just part of life together -- in churches, in communities, everywhere.

But most of us never actually learn how to handle it well. That's a big part of what EMS trains people for.

This spring, twenty-nine people came out to Oregon for a three-day workshop on exactly that -- practical tools, restorative practices, real conversations. And they left saying it changed how they think about their relationships and their communities.

If that kind of work interests you, EMS might be worth a closer look.



*Photo taken by Rhoda Blough and Shared by Mennonite Church USA

Congregations don't just need a warm body in the pulpit during seasons of transition. They need someone who understands grief, conflict, systems, and the slow work of discernment.

That kind of ministry takes formation.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is partnering with Union Presbyterian Seminary's Leadership Institute on the Ecumenical Transitional Leadership Training, a hybrid program for pastors and lay leaders navigating the complex, sacred work of interim ministry.

The program covers conflict transformation, trauma-informed congregational care, systems thinking, and spiritual resilience, everything the seminary catalogue prepares you for in theory, made practical and cohort-based.

Online modules begin May 17. An optional in-person gathering follows June 3-4 in Richmond, VA.

Registration closes May 8.

Learn more and register:
https://www.upsem.edu/event/ecumenical-transitional-leadership-trainings26/

Leading through change takes courage, clarity, and community - and the right companions. Join the UPSem Leadership Institute and Eastern Mennonite Seminary for a virtual peer cohort grounded in systems thinking, healthy communication, and spiritual formation, designed for leaders navigating transition. May 18–June 1, online with optional in-person gatherings. Learn more and register at the link below to secure early bird pricing.

https://www.upsem.edu/event/ecumenical-transitional-leadership-trainings26/

Eastern Mennonite Seminary is grateful to celebrate Dr. Peter Dula, who has been appointed the Myron S. Augsburger Endowed Chair of Theology at EMU, effective fall 2026.

Dr. Dula has spent two decades at EMU teaching, mentoring, and inviting students into the kind of theological and ethical reflection that stays with you long after the classroom.

His areas of expertise -- theology, religion, and culture -- sit at the heart of what EMS is about: thinking carefully about faith, formation, and what it means to live faithfully in the world.

When asked what he loves about EMU, Dr. Dula pointed to two things: the faculty colleagues around him, and the Shenandoah Valley out the window.

We think that says something. About the kind of community this is, and the kind of place it's rooted in.

Congratulations, Dr. Dula. We are honored to learn alongside you.

Read the full article here:
https://emu.edu/now/news/2026/four-professors-honored-as-endowed-chairs/

Today, we celebrate.

Several members of our EMS community cross a significant threshold, completing master's degrees and certificates that represent years of study, sacrifice, and deepening formation.

To our graduates: you came to this work with a calling, and you leave with the tools, the theology, and the community to carry it further. What you have built here does not stay here.

And for some of you, today is not an ending -- it is a checkpoint. Certificates that stack. Degrees that open into the next. The path continues, and we are glad to walk it with you.

We are deeply proud of each of you.

Congratulations to the Eastern Mennonite Seminary Class of 2026.