Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition

With the Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition, AMBS celebrates alumni who are engaged in God’s reconciling mission in the world.

We recognize people currently in ministry as well as those whose lifetime reflects faithful service to God. Nominees must be AMBS, Goshen Biblical Seminary (GBS) or Mennonite Biblical Seminary (MBS) degree program graduates (bachelor’s or master’s degrees).

Please consider nominating recent graduates with 10 or more years of service as well as graduates who have given a lifetime to ministry.

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2025 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Recipients of AMBS’s 2025 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition (l. to r.): Michele Hershberger and Robert J. Suderman. (Credits: Larry Bartel/Rebecca Seiling)
Recipients of AMBS’s 2025 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition (l. to r.): Michele Hershberger and Robert J. Suderman. (Credits: Larry Bartel/Rebecca Seiling)

Michele Hershberger (MA 2000) of Hesston, Kansas, and Robert (Jack) Suderman, DTh (MRE 1975), of Kitchener, Ontario, are the 2025 recipients of AMBS’s Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition. Read about Michele and Robert.

They were honored during a Zoom reception on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. View the video below!

Nominate an alum

Recipients are chosen based on the following considerations:

  • Effective and visionary leadership for the church, community and world
  • Mission that integrates evangelism, peacemaking and justice
  • Commitment to bringing Anabaptist theology in conversation with the wider church
  • Efforts in ecological sustainability and care for God’s creation
  • Dedication to justice, resisting oppression and reconciliation across social divisions

Our goal is to recognize alumni from a variety of backgrounds and ministry settings.

Do you know someone who should be considered for the Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition? Send your nomination to Janeen Bertsche Johnson, Alumni Director.

Recordings of annual Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition ceremony

Each year, AMBS hosts a ceremony for the recipients of the Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition. Recordings of the events are available, starting in 2020.

2024 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Yusak Budi Setyawan, PhD (MA 2003); Sally Schreiner Youngquist (MDiv 1987) (Read more)

2023 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Martha Smith Good, DMin (MDiv 1977); Peter Wood Stucky (MDiv 1971); J. Denny Weaver, PhD (MDiv 1970) (Read more)

2022 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Gary Harder, DMin (MDiv 1972); Mesach Krisetya, DMin (MDiv 1973); Sarah Nahar (MDiv 2011) (Read more)

2021 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Frederick J. Speckeen, PhD (BDiv 1956) (Read more)

Leonard Wiebe, MST (BDiv 1960) (Read more)

2020 Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition recipients

Nancy Kauffmann, DMin (MDiv 1982) (Read more)

Anne Garber Kompaoré, PhD (MA 2004) (Read more)

Past recipients

Below are alumni who have received the Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition since AMBS began awarding the honor in 2004.