Category: Uncategorized

Published: July 30, 2014

Mary E. Klassen

Wilma Ann Bailey is a scholar who gives her gifts to the church and for this AMBS honors her this year with the annual AMBS Alumni Ministry and Service Recognition.

Bailey earned a Master of Divinity degree from AMBS in 1979 and followed this with a Master of Arts and PhD from Vanderbilt University. For 14 years she has taught at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. In 2010 she was awarded the title “Minnie Vautrin Professor of Christian Witness” in recognition of her work related to peace and justice issues.

Prior to this she taught at Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., and taught and directed the James Lark Leadership Program at Goshen College. She was licensed for ministry in 1980 by Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, becoming the first woman to be licensed by the conference. She has served on boards of the Mennonite Church, Mennonite Central Committee, Philhaven and Eastern Mennonite University.

Bailey is a prolific writer of both scholarly materials and Bible studies for the church. She is author of the Lamentations volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series to be released this fall, of “You shall not kill” or “You shall not murder”: The assault on a biblical text (Liturgical Press, 2005) and many more books. She also has published seven volumes and has another forthcoming of Adult Bible Study Guides through Faith & Life Press, in addition to numerous articles, essays and book reviews on topics related to peace and justice, women in ancient Israel and laments, and the environment.

In addition, she has taught in other world contexts, including four concentrated courses at Christian Theological Seminary in Chunnakam, Sri Lanka, a seminary reviving its program after nearly 30 years of civil war. She participated in an agricultural project sponsored by the Brethren in Christ Church in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and lectured on land and land use in the Bible and theologies of the land in the Bible in 2009. Also that year, she spoke at the Mennonite World Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay, on “The earth belongs to the Lord.”

Bailey will return to AMBS two times this fall. At the Rooted and Grounded conference, Sept. 18–20, she will present a paper, “Who gets to eat in the Garden of Eden?” In October she will receive the alumni recognition and share with the campus community about her ministry.

Published: September 29, 2012

Mary E. Klassen

Don Klassen, recipient of the 2012 AMBS Alumni Ministry and Service Award, received the certificate honoring him from AMBS president Sara Wenger Shenk on Tuesday, Sept. 25. He had opportunities at a morning break and in chapel to share vignettes of his study at AMBS 40 years ago and of 32 years of ministry in the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

Don also presented a gift to AMBS–from the sound board of a water-damaged piano, he crafted the message “Jesus is Lord,” reminiscent of the same words that were above the chancel area in the Goshen Biblical Seminary chapel when GBS was still on the Goshen College campus.

The ministry to which Klassen devoted almost half of his life was matching inmates of the South Dakota State Penitentiary with friends on the outside. For more than 32 years he coordinated the M-2 (man-to-man) program, a part-time role that was sponsored by different inter-church organizations.

Klassen began in the coordinator role in 1978, but he reports that since 1972 when the program began, more than 4,000 matches have been established. The program has received state and national recognition and has resulted in an annual recidivism rate of less than one percent annually. Since 2005, Klassen has been adapting the concept to include county jails, and thus also to include women and youth.

“In prison, I have seen God in the forgiving, healing and blessing business. God is also in the rescuing business and the salvage business,” Don said.

Don explained, “Years ago the pastor at my home church in Kansas said, ‘We either build community or we break down community.’ Inmates were sent to prison because they allegedly broke down community. My job was to rebuild community. Jesus led me where I would not have chosen to go: past gun towers and razor wire, through stone walls and steel bars to look for volunteers who would come to befriend inmates. Because prison codes nationwide forbid staff to “fraternize” with inmates, I was asking M-2 sponsors to do something that staff cannot do.”

Each year, AMBS gives the Alumni Ministry and Service Award to someone whose ministry has been marked by distinguished accomplishment and those who have served their Lord faithfully and effectively over the years