Our Faculty
EBI instructors agree to abide by the policy and position statements adopted by the Biblical Mennonite Alliance and have been evaluated using the BMA Ministerial Questionnaire. The Biblical Mennonite Alliance subscribes to the 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith as its minimum doctrinal statement and has adopted several other position statements.
Aaron Beery | Elnora, IN
Instructor/Dean of Students
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Keith Bucher | Elnora, IN
Instructor/Business Manager
Keith Bucher grew up in Lancaster county, PA, and graduated from Terre Hill Mennonite High School. After high school, he moved to northern Indiana to serve with Gospel Echoes prison ministry. Keith currently resides in Elnora, IN with his wife and 9 children. He has been involved in church ministry as an ordained Deacon for the last 15 years. Keith has taught a few classes at EBI for the past eight years while serving as Business Manager for the Institute. He enjoys seeing young people develop a love for the scriptures and anchor their lives to the authority of the Word.
Clyde Byler | Mechanicsburg, OH
Instructor
Clyde Byler grew up in Blountstown, Florida, but has spent most of his life in central Ohio. He went to Rosedale Bible College and then graduated from Cedarville University in 1992. He taught for 7 years at a local Christian school and became a minister at United Bethel in 1997. In 2001 he started a small cabinet shop, and in 2004 he had the privilege of starting to teach at Elnora Bible Institute. Clyde is now a pastor at Living Hope Mennonite Church in Urbana, Ohio. He and his wife, Wanita, have six children, two daughters-in-law, and one grandson.
Paul Emerson | Elnora, IN
Instructor
Paul Emerson has served in Pastoral ministry for over forty years. A graduate of Philadelphia Biblical University with additional studies at Wheaton College, Covenant Theological Seminary, and American International College, he has many years of experience in Christian education instruction and administration at all levels. As an Anabaptist proselyte, he is a strong advocate of thoughtful conservative Anabaptism.
Nelson Gehman | Ephrata, PA
Instructor
Nelson Gehman was born in Ephrata, PA, and graduated from Terre Hill Mennonite High School in 1987. He enjoyed his time at SMBI and Rosedale. He has been in the construction trade most of his life doing drywall work. He was licensed as a Pastor at Cornerstone Mennonite Fellowship in 1999 and Ordained in 2000. In 1991 he married his wife, Dorita, and they have 3 children, as well as a son Jared, who passed away in 2014. They both have enjoyed being part of the 3-week term at EBI for the past several years. He loves reading, studying, and teaching the treasures from God’s Word.
Crit Lapp | Elnora, IN
Instructor/Principal
Crit Lapp was born and raised in Lancaster, PA. He worked at Esh Computer Center for four years and was a counselor at Bald Eagle Boys Camp for two years. He taught junior high for thirteen years and also served as the administrator at Weavertown school. In 2011, he was ordained as a pastor at Cornerstone Mennonite Church in Ephrata, PA. He and his wife, Shannon, have seven children and moved to Elnora in the summer of 2017. He graduated from Lancaster Bible College in 2018.
Dan Miller | Elnora, IN
Instructor
Dan Miller and his wife, Rosella, live in Elnora, IN. He serves as the music director at EBI. He studied music at Shenandoah Christian Music Camp, Vincennes University, and Indiana University. He has sung in and conducted various choirs and ensembles, including the Oasis Chorale, Tapestry Chamber Singers, SCMC Chamber Choir, the Daviess County Community Choir, and the Tehillah Ensemble. He teaches music at the Elnora Bible Institute, as well as the Foundation’s music class, and also gives private voice instruction.
Todd Neuschwander | Goshen, IN
Instructor
Todd has spent his life in the study of God’s Word and has served as a pastor for 35 years. He has also served the church as an evangelist with the Gospel Echoes Team prison ministry since 1991. Todd enjoys music and loves to sing and play the piano. He has served 21 years as a lead pastor of Living Water Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, and is chairman of the Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites. He served 16 years on the board of the Biblical Mennonite Alliance, serves as an overseer for numerous churches, and is on the faculty of the Elnora Bible Institute. Todd’s greatest passion is seeing biblically functioning churches glorifying God in all of life. His greatest joy is spending time with his wife Anita, their five children and spouses, and their grandchildren.
Allen and Carolyn Roth | Brooklyn, NY
Instructors
Allen Roth is a country boy, having lived as a church planter/pastor in Central America for seven years and in New York City for over 30 years, and as president of Destinations International for nearly 20 years. He is grateful for all the interactions with people from everywhere. He and his wife count it a great privilege to be involved in missions since 1978. His vision is to be an active witness and disciple-maker everywhere he goes, nurturing a vision for church planting and missionary sending with a special priority on targeting unreached people groups nearby and far away. Allen enjoys trying foods from other ethnic backgrounds. He loves to read and to interact with his grandchildren. He also enjoys studying and teaching the Bible in a variety of settings, from pre-believers to established church and Bible Institutes
Carolyn Roth is a mother to three and grandmother to nine. She grew up in a church planter’s home in WV where she surrendered her life to Christ as a young teen. She taught for three years in Northern Ontario. After their studies at Rosedale Bible Institute, she and her husband Allen served in Nicaragua, then moved to New York City in another church planting adventure. Teaching experiences include classroom, homeschooling, and discipling and mentoring women in diverse settings.
Wayne Rutt | Brooklyn, NY
Instructor
Todd has spent his life in the study of God’s Word and has served as a pastor for 35 years. He has also served the church as an evangelist with the Gospel Echoes Team prison ministry since 1991. Todd enjoys music and loves to sing and play the piano. He has served 21 years as a lead pastor of Living Water Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, and is chairman of the Fellowship of Concerned Mennonites. He served 16 years on the board of the Biblical Mennonite Alliance, serves as an overseer for numerous churches, and is on the faculty of the Elnora Bible Institute. Todd’s greatest passion is seeing biblically functioning churches glorifying God in all of life. His greatest joy is spending time with his wife Anita, their five children and spouses, and their grandchildren.
Lester Swartzentruber | Plain City, OH
Instructor
Lester Swartzentruber grew up on a small family farm near Lake Huron in AuGres, Michigan. Post High school, he worked as an agricultural mechanic for seven years after which he served in mission work for two years in West Berlin, during the communist control of East Germany. Lester and his wife, Janet, make their home in Plain City, Ohio where Lester has worked for three decades in the building trades and in residential remodeling. A life-long reader, Lester has long been fascinated by Jewish-Hebraic studies, and as a self-taught scholar, he reads extensively on Christ and the feasts. He is passionate for students to develop tools and gain excitement for studying the Word of God.
Marvin and Margaret Troyer | Plain City, OH
Instructors
Marv from the time he was a young married man has been actively involved with church leadership and numerous Christian organizations. His various business pursuits have given him experience and understanding of finances and the blessing of following God’s principles. Today, Marv is a pastor, married to Margaret, and enjoys his three married children along with their families. Marv has done marriage and financial counseling as well as teaching these subjects in various settings. He finds it exhilarating to see youth value and embrace biblical instructions while teaching in the classroom and when relating with them personally. Marv and Margaret also enjoy leading short-term mission trips around the globe and seeing God give meaning and direction to young people.
Margaret has taught in numerous church settings since she was a teenager. Today she is married, a pastor’s wife, and delights in her children and grandchildren. Teaching women from God’s Word is a passion of hers. God created us as women for a unique purpose, and she enjoys sharing those truths. Women of all ages who embrace these principles find fulfillment and joy as His daughters. Margaret also enjoys going with her husband, Marv, on short-term mission trips around the world. She delights in giving youth the opportunity to serve and experience God working in their personal lives as they share in other cultures.
Daniel and Heidi Yoder | Elnora, IN
Instructors
Daniel and Heidi Yoder live in Elnora with their son, Lewis. Heidi was an EBI student in 2007; Daniel attended in 2008. Since 2015, Daniel has taught a range of courses at EBI. Apologetics and theology are areas of particular interest to him. He ahs been blessed with opportunities to study at Bryan College, Sangre de Cristo Seminary, and Veritas International University. Heidi enjoys teaching a women’s course ever fall term. They are grateful for the opportunities they have to serve at EBI.
Paul Lamicela| Lancaster, PA
Instructor
Dr Paul Lamicela (PhD in biblical theology) is passionate about helping people encounter the truth, goodness, and beauty of Scripture’s grand story. He teaches biblical studies through his Biblical Storyline Academy and elsewhere. His academic emphases are NT use of the OT, approaches to biblical hermeneutics, Petrine and Pauline theology, and the relationship between OT and NT more broadly. He is also interested in the study of historical and cultural backgrounds. Dr Lamicela lives with his wife Laura in Lancaster, PA. The Lamicelas are expecting their first son in Oct 2023. They also love to eat and cook varied cuisines and to travel abroad.