Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) is the graduate theological division of Eastern Mennonite University

Eastern Mennonite University

Eastern Mennonite University is a private liberal arts university in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches, the Mennonite Church USA. Its main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia, about three miles from state-owned...

 (EMU), which is an accredited Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 liberal arts university in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...

. EMU was initially established as Eastern Mennonite College in 1917. In 1965, after several decades of growth and change on the Harrisonburg campus, the seminary was established with its formal name and an acting dean. EMS was an outgrowth of the curriculum in Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 at what was then known as Eastern Mennonite College. EMU and EMS together are considered the embodiment of a vision held by the Mennonite leaders from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 who first established EMC in 1917.

The seminary is an accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada

The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has more than 250 member institutions...

 since 1986. In addition to training leaders for in the Mennonite Church USA

Mennonite Church USA

The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century...

, EMS is approved as an institution for the training of candidates for ordination in the United Methodist Church

United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...

. Eligible students may receive educational benefits from the Veterans Administration

United States Department of Veterans Affairs

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...

.