Rebecca Slough

Academic Dean; Associate Professor of Worship and the Arts; Director, Spiritual Formation Program

• B.A., Goshen College, 1978
• M.Div., Goshen Biblical Seminary, 1982
• M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1983
• Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union, 1989

Email: rslough@ambs.edu
Phone: 574 296-6238

To download a print-quality photo, click on the small photo at right.

Rebecca’s gifts in worship, music, ministry, and the arts come together in her teaching at AMBS. She is a musician, and in the classroom, Rebecca helps students discover new insights by testing artistic responses to biblical texts. Before coming to AMBS in 1998, she served as managing editor for Hymnal: A Worship Book (1989–1992) and also was on the faculty at Bethany Theological Seminary. She is a member of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada and of the North American Academy of Liturgy. Rebecca extends her teaching beyond the AMBS classroom by leading retreats and workshops for pastors and congregations on worship, music, and the arts.

"Good pastors are artists who improvise countless variations on the theme of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ and the inauguration of his reign. Pastors listen for the themes in the lives of their people, extending or altering the themes, shifting the accents, changing the harmonies, and then offering them back for response. Often through this improvisational work, God’s Spirit opens unimagined possibilities for healing, confession, reconciliation, deepened love, and extended grace. I thrill to watch students, colleagues, and even strangers risk the transforming possibilities of improvisation."

Scholarship

• Nurturing Spirit Through Song: The Life of Mary K. Oyer (Cascadia, 2007) and companion DVD, Nurturing Spirit Through Song: The Legacy of Mary K. Oyer, produced by Mennonite Media Productions, co-editor
• Preparing Sunday Dinner: A Collaborative Approach to Worship and Preaching (Herald Press, 2006), co-authored with Marlene Kropf and June Alliman Yoder
• “Pastoral Ministry as Improvisatory Art” in The Heart of the Matter: Pastoral Ministry in Anabaptist Perspective (Cascadia, 2004)
• “Acting the Word: Preaching in the Context of Worship” in Anabaptist Preaching: A Conversation Between Pulpit, Pew, and Bible (Cascadia, 2003)
• Deal with it: The Bible on Death and Dying (Generation Why Youth Curriculum, Faith & Life Resources, 2000), co-author
• Hymnal: A Worship Book (Faith & Life, Brethren, Mennonite Publishing House, 1992), managing editor