Release by Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

AMBS faculty, staff and students were among more than 150 participants in “Word, Spirit, and the Renewal of the Church,” the 18th Believers’ Church Conference. The event was held Sept. 14–16 at Goshen (Indiana) College and was co-sponsored by Goshen College and AMBS.

Safwat Marzouk, AMBS associate professor of Old Testament, and Jamie Pitts, AMBS associate professor of Anabaptist studies, played major roles in planning and hosting the event, and other AMBS faculty and students presented papers, led worship and participated in other ways.

Above, several AMBS students visited with renowned theologian Miroslav Volf, Dr. Theol., a professor of systematic theology at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, following his lecture on Sept. 15 at College Mennonite Church in Goshen. Volf’s presentation, “Humility and Joy: What We Can Still Learn from Martin Luther,” was sponsored by the Yoder Public Affairs Lecture Series; he was also a speaker at the conference. AMBS President Sara Wenger Shenk introduced Volf, a friend from when she and her husband, Gerald, served in the former Yugoslavia in the 1980s.

(l. to r.): Miroslav Volf; Jonathan Krull, visiting professor of philosophy at Huntington (Indiana) University; Benjamin Isaak-Krauss, MDiv student from Bammental, Germany; Scott Litwiller, MDiv student from Delavan, Illinois, and data services manager for AMBS; Rianna Isaak-Krauss, MACF student from Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Brian O’Leary, MDiv student from Seattle, Washington.

“Reading Volf at Goshen College gave me insight into how conflict and suffering in the Bible might be relevant for our theologies of suffering today,” said O’Leary. “I was honored to hear more about humility and joy from him after his talk.”

“It was exciting to hear Dr. Volf talk after reading his works for classes at AMBS!” added Benjamin Isaak-Krauss.

Read Goshen College’s article on the conference