AMBS completes Next Generation campaign

With the opening of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary new library and campus center just months away, the seminary has concluded its Next Generation fund-raising campaign, reaching the goal of $20.4 million in cash and pledges.

Nelson Kraybill, AMBS president, shared the news with faculty, staff and students on January 23, announcing that the final component, the major construction project, was fully funded with gifts and pledges.

The campaign, which began in July 2001, is the seminary’s largest ever fund-raising effort. It was established to strengthen the seminary as it prepares leaders for the next generation of the church. Components included:

  • New library and campus center: $8.4 million, including $1.9 endowment for ongoing operation and maintenance;
  • Annual Fund: $6.8 million during the period of the campaign;
  • Scholarships: $2 million;
  • !Explore: A Theological Program for High School Youth: $1.9 million, most of which was received as a grant from Lilly Endowment for the first four years of the program;
  • Endowment for faculty support: $1 million;
  • Church Leadership Center programming and staff: $500,000; and
  • Chapel of the Word, a smaller chapel for teaching worship and preaching: $260,000.

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to donors—friends from across Canada and the United States, alumni, employees, board members and students—for generous, even sacrificial giving,” Kraybill said.

Projects already completed include the Chapel of the Word, dedicated in March 2006. This extension and renovation of a classroom is not only a valuable place for students to learn skills of preaching and worship leading; it also has become a significant place of prayer for small groups.

Funding for ongoing support of the seminary includes the scholarship component. These funds provide two full-tuition scholarships and stipends for living expenses along with financial aid that helps numerous students each year.

The seminary’s new library and campus center is under construction with scheduled completion in the summer of 2007. Through careful, strategic choices for building design, construction and operation, the seminary hopes to achieve a gold certification in the United States Green Building Council’s criteria for sustainable buildings. Funding for the library included more than 60 gifts of $10,000 or more, and numerous smaller gifts.

Al Yoder

The campaign steering and advisory committees were chaired by Al Yoder of Middlebury, Ind. The steering committee also included David Boshart, Kay Ann Fransen, Robert Frey, Kevin Lambright, Jay Lehman, Fred Liechty, Wilmer Martin, Betsy Moyer, Tim Penner, Babara Peterson, Adlai Schrock, and Vicki Smucker.

Advisory Committee members were Howard and Martha Hershberger, John and Lorena Redekop, Peter and Helen Redekop, Maynard and Carolyn Sauder, Ervin and Erma Stienmann, Allen and Marie Yoder.