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2010-02-01 issue:

Michael King named new dean of EMS

by Laura Lehman Amstutz

Print Article

Michael A. King, a long-time writer, editor, publisher and pastor from Telford, Pa., has been named the new vice president and dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Va.

King will begin his new role July 1, 2010. He succeeds Ervin R. Stutzman, who held the position nine years. Stutzman has begun serving as the new executive director of Mennonite Church USA. Sara Wenger Shenk is interim dean.

The vice president and seminary dean provides leadership and oversight for all seminary programs and faculty.

"Michael's years of pastoral experience, academic preparation and passion for preparing church leaders will serve us well in his new role," says Loren Swartzendruber, Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) president. "We anticipate his contributions to EMS as dean and to the entire university as he joins the leadership team."

"Michael King comes to us from a distinguished career as a pastor, scholar and publisher," says Fred Kniss, EMU provost. "He is a serious scholar with a pastoral orientation and will provide a clear Anabaptist voice in conversation with diverse Mennonite and Methodist constituencies and other audiences. Michael is committed to the mission of our university and especially to the seminary's key role in training the next generation of church leaders," Kniss says.

King is the owner, editor and publisher of Cascadia Publishing House, an Anabaptist-Mennonite publisher supporting examination of faith, history and contemporary life from an Anabaptist perspective. Cascadia publishes theological and scholarly volumes under the Cascadia label and popular books through the DreamSeeker Books imprint.

He has been a pastor at Germantown Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Pa.; Salford Mennonite Church, Harleysville, Pa.; Zion Mennonite Church, Souderton Pa., and most recently Spring Mount Mennonite Church, Schwenksville, Pa. He has been an adjunct professor at EMS Lancaster and Messiah-Temple in Philadelphia.

Books he has authored include Trackless Wastes and Stars to Steer By:
Christian Identity in a Homeless Age and Preaching about Life in a Threatening World. He has also edited multiple volumes including Anabaptist Preaching: A Conversation between Pulpit, Pew and Bible.

"Church, culture, and seminary education all seem to be undergoing tremendous ferment and transition," King said. "This places seminaries in the center of much of the important action in our day. I look forward to journeying with seminary students, staff and faculty as together we seek to discern how the Holy Spirit is speaking in the thick of it all."

He received a BA degree in Bible and philosophy from EMU in 1976, an MDiv degree from Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and a PhD in rhetoric and communications from Temple University.

King is married to Joan Kenersen King, owner of Joan Kenerson King Consulting and Counseling, through which she provides public behavioral health consulting services. She is also a family therapist. They have three daughters: Kristina, EMU 2003, Katelyn, EMU 2006, and Rachael, an EMU senior.

Eastern Mennonite Seminary, a graduate program of theological studies on the EMU campus seeks to educate leaders to serve and lead in ministry in a global context.

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