About Us

Board Members

Milo Zehr

Chairman
5121 Long Island Rd., Long Island, VA 24569
Ph: (434) 610-8655

Clarence Miller

Secretary/Treasurer
5327 TR 351, Millersburg, OH 44654
Ph: (330) 674-7986

Paul Emerson

Board Member
101 S State Road 58, Elnora, IN 47529
Ph: (540) 476-4204

Earl Koch

Board Member
1893 Bean Road, New Hamburg, ON N3A 2X2
Ph: (519) 662-2668

Aaron Yoder

Board Member
5188 W 825 N, Leesburg, IN 46538
Ph: (574) 646-2123

Tom Mullet

Board Member
9850 Golf Course Rd, Sugarcreek, OH 44681
Ph: (330) 852-3539

David M. Yoder

Board Member
9815 W. Trail West Rd., Partridge, KS 67566
Ph: (620) 567-3301

Instructors

Dave Yoder

Dave and his wife Ellie have been married for 43 years. They are blessed with six children and thirteen grandchildren. They have taught in their local Christian day school as well as SMBI and Faith Builders. They have also served four years in the Northern Youth Programs. Dave has served the Central Mennonite congregation in Dover, DE as associate pastor for 36 years. Dave’s passion and life’s purpose has been focused on ministry, with a strong emphasis on personal relationships within the body of Christ.

Chester Weaver

Chester has been involved in Christian education for almost all of his adult life, serving as full-time Christian School teacher for 35 years. He also has taught 21 years at short term youth Bible schools. Presently, he and his wife, Barbara, parents of eight children, reside in Itasca, Texas.

Milo Zehr

Brother Milo and his wife Mary Sue live near their family at Gladys, VA. Milo is one of the founders of Faith Builders Educational Programs and served for 43 years as a pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church near Gladys, VA and Shalom Mennonite Church at Cochranton, PA. He is currently a partner with his son on their dairy farm, mentoring people, and writing.

Supporting Statements

  1. We believe the Bible is the inspired and complete Word of God and that it is our guide for faith and practice in all cultures for all time.
  2. We believe Jesus has commissioned and equipped His followers not only to follow Him personally but also to disciple others; we believe it takes the brotherhood working together to do that discipling; but we believe church leaders are responsible for leading out in and giving oversight to the work.
  3. We embrace historical Anabaptist theology and practice as reflected in the confessions up to and including the 1963 Confession of Faith.
  4. We see many influences shaping conservative Anabaptist people and sometimes hindering the mission Jesus gave us. These influences include but are not limited to:
    1. Protestant theology
    2. Materialistic values
    3. Pietistic emphases
    4. Emergent church
    5. Traditionalism
    6. Modern Psychology
  5. We observe that many conservative Anabaptist pastors feel ill-equipped to face the challenges of shepherding in this day, and we believe the need is urgent to provide help for pastors.

A Brief History

In January 2003, a group of fifteen ordained men met to discuss the possibility of providing training especially designed to meet the needs of conservative Mennonite ministers. A seven-member Steering Committee was commissioned to begin planning for such a school. The Shepherd’s Institute (TSI) is the result of that meeting. The Sword and Trumpet Board serves as the parent organization of The Shepherd’s Institute.

To make The Shepherd’s Institute available to a larger number of ministers, it will be held in the various Mennonite communities where several conservative Anabaptist congregations can provide cooperative support. Eventual plans are to hold:

1 term (1 week) in the spring, and
1 term (1 week) in the fall.

Each session will require a minimum of ten attendees.

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