Kenton T. Derstine, MDiv, DMin

Kenton T. Derstine is associate professor of supervised ministry and director of the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program of Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS), Harrisonburg, VA. He is ordained for ministry by the Virginia Conference of Mennonite Church USA. He earned his MDiv from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and his DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary.

He has served in pastoral education as an ACPE Certified Clinical Supervisor/Educator for over 25 years. Completing his training as a clinical educator at Indiana University Health System, he assumed a position as CPE supervisor and program manager at St. Vincent Hospitals in Indianapolis, IN. He began his duties at EMS as director of CPE and field education in 2000. He also served on the faculty of the Extraordinary Leadership Seminars conducted by Roberta Gilbert, MD.

Dr. Derstine completed two years of the Bowen Center’s Postgraduate Program and served as an intern during the 2014–2015 academic year. His long-term interests have included the application of Bowen theory to the process of ministry formation and practice. He has conducted units of CPE at all levels including Supervisory CPE—the training and certifying process for ACPE supervisors. He is intrigued by the correlations that seem apparent between Bowen theory and the theological anthropology implicit in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Contact Information: kderstine@thebowencenter.org