Susanna Wesley Centennial Professor of Practical Theology
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
It is with pleasure we announce Evelyn Parker as a Hunt Institute Fellow. The Hunt Institute Fellows are appointed for their expertise and demonstrated excellence in their fields. During their tenure, they will collaborate on projects and contribute to the endeavors of the Institute.
Evelyn Parker is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She joined the faculty in July 1998. Parker received her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Lambuth College, Jackson, TN (1974), and her Master of Science (M.S.) from Prairie View A&M University (1983). Upon receiving her M.S., she served as a research scientist in the Department of Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She attended the two week Christian Educators Seminar at Perkins School of Theology from 1986 until 1989 and received a Certificate as an Associate in Christian Education in June 1989. The seminars were the impetus for further study in theological education and the transition from a vocation in biological research to one in educational ministry. During the fall of 1989, Parker became a full-time student at Perkins and in 1991, she earned a Master of Religious Education. In December 1996, Parker earned her Ph.D from the Joint Program of GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary/Northwestern University in Religious and Theological Studies, with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Christian Education, Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society, and Education and Public Policy. While at Garrett Seminary/Northwestern University, she was a Fund for Theological Education Black Doctoral Scholar from 1993-1995.
Parker is the editor of The Sacred Selves of Adolescent Girls: Hard Stories of Race, Class, and Gender (Pilgrim Press, 2006) and Trouble Don’t Last Always: Emancipatory Hope Among African American Adolescents (Pilgrim Press, 2003). She is the co-author of In Search of Wisdom: Faith Formation in the Black Church (Abingdon, 2002). Parker has also published several chapters and journal articles on adolescent spirituality. She is an active member of the International Academy of Practical Theology, the American Academy of Religion, the Association of Practical Theology, and Religious Education Association, where she has presented papers, coordinated segments of consultations and convened sessions.
Parker is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she grew up in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). She has served the CME church as a local and district Director of Christian Education. She has also taught numerous educational ministry workshops and seminars on local, district, Annual Conference and Connectional levels. She has represented the CME Church on the World Council of Churches (WCC), Faith and Order Plenary Commission from 1996 to 2006. During the WCC Ninth Assembly in 2006 she was elected to the Central Committee and serves until 2013. Within the WCC Central Committee she is co-secretary/reporter for the Nominations Committee. She is also a member of the 10th Assembly Planning Committee that will be held in Busan, South Korea in 2013. She is an active member of the Kirkwood Temple C.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas where she serves as Christian Education Coordinator.
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