Pray with us
Give thanks for God’s work in the lives of AMBS students — calling them to ministry and theological study and providing a community in which they can learn, grow and be mentored.Â
Ongoing prayers
Thank you for offering your prayers of support for AMBS.
For current and future students
- Pray for students in their first year of studies.
- Pray for international students and for the special challenges they face, including language adjustments, cultural transitions and distance from family and friends.
- Give thanks for the lifelong relationships built through seminary study.
- Pray for those who are exploring a sense of call to pursue biblical and theological studies. May they discover insights that will strengthen their faith and call to ministry and theological study.
- Pray for prospective AMBS students who have upcoming visa appointments in their home countries. Pray that the U.S. government would grant them student visas to follow God’s call to pursue theological education at AMBS.
- Pray for students doing internships this year in congregations or with other organizations.
- Pray for students who are nearing the end of their studies, especially those who are deciding on future steps.
- Pray for God’s work in the lives of all AMBS students — calling them to ministry and theological study and providing a community in which they can learn, grow, be mentored, and explore their passions and questions.
For other needs of the seminary
- Pray for AMBS Church Leadership Center leaders as they plan offerings for the coming academic year to strengthen participants’ leadership skills and deepen their faith.
- Pray for seminary professors who prepare their students for leadership in the church and world not only by challenging them academically but also by tending to their personal and spiritual formation as followers of Jesus and beloved children of God.
- Pray for our alumni, who are engaged in a wide variety of ministries around the world.
- Give thanks for the technology that allows AMBS to offer seminary studies at a distance to students across the world and for the bonds that are created through these online, blended and hybrid courses.
- Give thanks for the Business Office staff members who work behind the scenes to keep the seminary running year-round.
- Give thanks for AMBS’s theological library and pray for our librarians and student assistants as they support the scholarship of students and faculty with more than 300,000 print and electronic resources.
- Pray for the Development Team members as they connect with people to support our mission of educating and preparing Christian leaders, and give thanks for donors who generously respond to this call.
- Pray for the Intercultural Competence and Undoing Racism (ICUR) Team as they work both to advocate for changes in policies and practices and to help people become effective allies for justice and compassionate agents of reconciliation across dividing walls of hostility.
Prayers for specific times of the year
January
- Pray for those participating in events across the country to honor the racial and economic justice work and peace witness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. May seeds be sown to bring about changes to unjust power systems and structures.
- Pray for AMBS students both on campus and at a distance as they begin a new semester this month. May God use their courses to help form and ground them theologically, academically and spiritually.
- Pray for participants in AMBS’s Spiritual Guidance Seminars as they strengthen their skills in offering spiritual direction. May they and their directees be transformed as they listen for God together.
- Give thanks for Invite AMBS, a program through which congregations and organizations can request speakers and consultants from AMBS on a variety of topics.
February
- Pray that AMBS’s Pastors and Leaders conference would help prepare participants to connect, worship, learn, and be inspired for their ministries.
- Pray for students who are exploring a call to ministry by participating in Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program as they gather this month. May God bless their learning and their relationships with their mentors.
- Pray for people who are seeking a place where they can engage Scripture and be nurtured spiritually and challenged academically — and who may be considering seminary study at AMBS. May God provide light for the next step as they listen for God’s call.
- Pray for AMBS Admissions Team members as they connect with prospective students who are exploring options for biblical and theological graduate studies and discerning where God might be calling them.
March
- Pray for prospective AMBS students who are applying for scholarships this month and for those who are evaluating their applications. And give thanks for donors who help make seminary study possible!
- Pray for AMBS Master of Arts: Theology and Peace Studies students as they prepare for work and scholarship in theology and transformative peacebuilding — through concentrations such as Conflict Transformation, International Development Administration and Environmental Sustainability Leadership.
- Give thanks for collaborative efforts among MEA educational institutions to respond to the challenges of climate change. AMBS partners with Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College and also with the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions.
- Give thanks for endowed scholarships such as the Paul and Bertha Miller Pastoral Leadership Scholarship — which has benefited 38 students over 30 years at AMBS — and for donors who are generously contributing funds for continued student support.
April
- During spring break week, give thanks for the rhythms of work and rest in our lives. Pray that seminary students and faculty would be refreshed and energized to return to their shared biblical and theological work.
- Prayer for AMBS board members as they meet this month. May God’s Spirit guide their conversations and bless them with wisdom and clarity as they give direction to the seminary’s ongoing work.
- Scholarship and financial aid applications are due this month for AMBS students. Give thanks for donors who help make seminary education possible through their contributions, and pray for administrators who are discerning how to award funds.
- Pray for participants in Ministry Integrity Circles, an AMBS program in which pastors going through significant transitions meet with peers and experienced consultants for guided conversation and reflection.
May
- Pray for the candidates who are graduating from AMBS this month; give thanks with each of them for God’s call on their lives and for their formative experiences at seminary.
- Pray for students who are planning to begin graduate studies this fall — and especially that visas would be granted for international students to pursue studies in person at AMBS.
- Pray for students taking AMBS Intensive Term courses this month, both on campus and at a distance. May God’s Spirit guide their learning.
- Pray for students who are planning to begin studies this fall — and especially that visas would be granted for international students to pursue studies in person in the U.S.
June
- Pray for students taking hybrid classes this month as they prepare to meet in person in Elkhart for a week. May their learning be filled with fruitful, Spirit-led connections and insights.
- Pray for those who are following a call to ministry and exploring AMBS’s Journey Missional Leadership Development Program, which develops leaders centered in Jesus Christ for ministries in local churches and communities.
- Give thanks for AMBS alumni, who are living out their faith and applying their seminary learnings in contexts around the world. Pray for Alumni Director Janeen Bertsche Johnson, M.Div., as she works to connect alumni to each other and to AMBS resources in creative ways.
- Give thanks for AMBS’s Maintenance and Campus Security Team members, whose behind-the-scenes work and attention to detail in maintaining a hospitable campus are an integral part of the seminary’s mission.
July
- Pray for the participants in !Explore: A Theological Program for High School Youth and their program leaders as they share a group experience of worship, service, study and relationship-building. May they and the program leaders sense the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit as they explore ministry and build relationships.
- Pray for our newly admitted international students as they prepare for student visa appointments with U.S. Consulate or Embassy offices in their home countries, and that they would be granted visas to study at AMBS.
- Give thanks for God’s work through the Institute of Mennonite Studies, AMBS’s research agency, which works to foster scholarship for the church.
- Pray for AMBS’s Development Team members as they connect with people at a distance to support AMBS’s mission of educating and preparing Christian leaders, and give thanks for donors who generously respond to this call.
August
- Pray for AMBS students and faculty members as they begin a new academic year this month — both in person and at a distance. May their collaborative learning processes be filled with fruitful, Spirit-led connections and insights.
- Pray for participants in AMBS’s yearlong Spiritual Direction: Foundations seminar led by Dan Schrock, DMin, as they grow in confidence and competence in accompanying people on their spiritual journeys. May they and their directees be transformed as they listen for God together.
- AMBS’s noncredit Anabaptist Short Courses are online and last six weeks each. Give thanks for varied options for theological education and pray for those who are taking the courses to deepen their understanding of Anabaptist history, thought and witness.
- Pray that church leaders across the world who desire Anabaptist biblical and theological training would connect with AMBS’s online distance education offerings.
September
- Pray for participants in Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program as they gather with program leaders, mentors and peers for a weekend of worship, learning and community-building.
- Pray for participants in Ministry Integrity Circles, an AMBS program in which pastors going through significant transitions meet with peers and experienced consultants for guided conversation and reflection.
- Give thanks for AMBS’s commitment to care for God’s creation, which is demonstrated through the seminary’s Environmental Sustainability Leadership concentration, course offerings on creation care issues, energy-efficient buildings, 60kW solar array, and native plants on campus, for example.
- Give thanks for God’s work in the lives of AMBS students (in both graduate and Lifelong Learning programs) — calling them to ministry and theological study and providing a community in which they can learn, grow and be mentored.
October
- As AMBS board members meet this month, pray that God’s Spirit would guide their conversations and bless them with wisdom and clarity as they give direction to the ongoing work of the seminary.
- Give thanks for the behind-the-scenes work of the AMBS Registrar’s Office as they help students track their program study plans.
- Give thanks for the global diversity of AMBS’s student body and that students from many continents can learn and grow alongside each other.
- Give thanks for AMBS’s Teaching Faculty members, who care deeply about their students’ academic, personal and spiritual formation and well being. Pray for them as they mentor and guide students in knowing, being and doing.
- Give thanks for AMBS’s 2,500+ alumni (those who have completed 12 or more credit hours of study) and for the ways in which they are applying their seminary learnings and making a difference across the world.
November
- Pray for those who are considering engaging Scripture and strengthening their leadership skills at 911±¬ÁĎÍř — whether on campus or at a distance. May God provide clarity for their next steps.
- Give thanks for congregations, conferences and regional churches that partner with AMBS to make theological education affordable and accessible for students across the church! AMBS offers grants of up to $2,000 per academic year to match their contributions toward a graduate student’s tuition costs.
- Pray for participants in AMBS’s Transition to Leadership program, which provides guidance for new pastors in their first years of ministry.
- Pray that the U.S. government would grant visas to international students who are sensing God’s call to pursue theological studies at AMBS. May the way be paved for them to study in Elkhart.
- Pray for participants in AMBS’s Leadership Integrity Circles, which bring together experienced organizational leaders to reflect on their leadership experience with others through spiritual and theological lenses.
December
- Pray for seminary students who are concluding the semester and reflecting on learnings from their coursework, and give thanks for how God is using their studies to equip them for ministry!
- Pray for members of AMBS’s Development Team. Give thanks for their year-round work of making connections with people to support AMBS’s ministry of preparing Christian leaders, and for donors who have generously responded to this call.
- Give thanks for the free Anabaptist prayer app, Take Our Moments and Our Days, and for the technology that enables these Scripture-saturated morning and evening prayer services to be available to users worldwide.
- Give thanks for !Explore, a summer program of AMBS in which high school students explore ministry and theology, grow in spiritual practices and develop their leadership skills. Pray that leaders would encourage youth to apply for 2020.
