Hurricane Ida Relief
The Rev. JoAnne Pounds (M.Div. ’14) was recently featured in a video produced by the Louisiana conference highlighting her work as she ministers to those in need in south Louisiana following Hurricane Ida. While the storm may no longer be in the headlines, humanitarian needs remain. Pounds serves as pastor at Algiers United Methodist Church and Belle Chasse United Methodist Church.
Inaugural Innovator
Jonathan Allen (M.Div. ’16) has been named Inaugural Innovator in Residence at Innovate@BU, an incubator at Boston University that helps students “dream up ideas ranging from a fashion company to antiracism training to an app that helps patients in low-resourced countries find doctors,” according to a Boston University press release. Allen first learned about the Innovate@BU team when visiting for advice for the Leadership Brainery, a national nonprofit he founded in 2013 with his husband, Derek Young, Jr. The organization helps underrepresented students gain access to graduate and doctoral level education and careers. Read the BU Today story here.
Congregation Profiled
The congregation led by Pastor Bryant Phelps (D.Min. ’17) was recently featured in a column by Sharon Grigsby in The Dallas Morning News. The Church of the Disciple in DeSoto, Texas, reunited recently with its first in-person service in 20 months.
“Members of Church of the Disciple in DeSoto never lost sight of God in those terrifying weeks of March 2020, when a mysterious deadly pandemic locked them out of their sanctuary,” Grigsby wrote. “When George Floyd’s murder a few months later swept a racial reckoning across North Texas and the nation, this United Methodist Church congregation held tight to the Lord. They even kept faith as the very walls of their church fell in and its floors buckled in February’s unprecedented ice storm. These sturdy-in-their-faith women and men — like congregants of other beliefs and religions — proved over these last trying 20 months that they didn’t need the church to be the church. But what solace for the soul it was to finally unite last Sunday in their newly restored spiritual locker room. Faith is fed by community; virtual connections can only do so much.”
Grigsby had written earlier in the pandemic about the church and about how Phelps, then the newly appointed senior pastor, was shepherding this neighborhood church — a large percentage of its members high-risk senior citizens — in one of the Dallas County ZIP codes hit hardest by COVID-19. “But until a member invited me to be a part of the church’s long-awaited and too-often-delayed homecoming, I had no idea everything these folks have endured since we last spoke,” she wrote.
Dallas Morning News subscribers may read the column here.
Lisa Hancock Co-writes Sermon Guide
Lisa Hancock (M.S.M. ’13; M.T.S. ’15; Ph.D. ’21) helped write a sermon guide in partnership with the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. The Journey Toward Mental Wellness resource and toolkit aims to help faith leaders begin meaningful conversations on the importance of mental wellness and offers resources on connecting others to behavioral health services, as well as sermons on mental health and exercises to start thoughtful discussion with your congregation. Find the sermon guide here.
Bill Matthews Receives Award
The Rev. Bill Matthews (M.Th. ’63) and his wife, Norma Matthews, were recipients of the Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award as part of 2021 UN Day Global Leadership Awards program. The awards were presented on October 23 as part of UN Day for the Dallas Chapter of UNA USA. The UN Day Awards honor individuals and organizations from multiple industries who are advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. This year’s recipients, through their organizations and body of work, have helped advance gender equality, immigration reform, humanitarianism, democracy, and more.
Read the press release about the awards here.
Obit: The Rev. David Blackman
The Rev. David Blackman (M. Th., 1979) passed away Monday, November 8, 2021, at the age of 80. He served churches throughout the North Texas Conference while active as well as retired. Most recently, he was serving on the staff at Axe Memorial UMC in Garland. The memorial service was held Nov. 17 at Axe Memorial United Methodist Church in Garland, preceded by his military burial at the National Cemetery earlier that day. Cards and notes may be sent to his wife: Kathy Blackmon, 4250 Old Omen Road, #102, Tyler, TX 75707.
Obit: Father Joseph Doyle
A funeral Mass for Josephite Father Joseph Doyle (D. Min., 1985) was offered Nov. 5 at Corpus Christi/Epiphany Catholic Church in New Orleans. Father Doyle, a Baltimore native, died Nov. 2 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 82. Father Doyle was the second president of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans from 1992 to 2010 and later worked extensively with young men in formation to become Josephite priests and brothers. He was the author of “When Jesus was Twelve,” a work of historical fiction about the Holy Family. Read his obituary in the Catholic Review here.
Obit: Gordon Roe
Gordon Roe (M. Th., 1960) died at age 86 in San Antonio. He met his wife, Patsy, while at Perkins. In the first years of his career, Gordon served Methodist churches in Central and South Texas towns, including Manchaca, Hunt, Burnet, and Sinton. He decided to leave the ministry in 1972 and found a new calling as a special education teacher. A celebration of Gordon’s life will be held December 27 at Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church in Carrollton, Texas. Memorial contributions can be made to Southwestern University in Georgetown or Greater Lewisville Community Theater (send checks to GLTC, Box 293231, Lewisville, TX 75029-3231 or email BoxOffice@glct.org for credit card donations). Read his obit here.
Obit: The Rev. Dr. Bobby W. Parrott
The Rev. Dr. Bobby W. Parrott (M.Th., 1958; D.Min., 1977) died October 8, 2021, at the age of 89. Parrott served as pastor at many churches in the Texas Annual Conference, as District Superintendent of the Southwest District in Houston and as a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences of the United Methodist Church. As custodian of Albert C. Outler’s books, papers, and memorabilia, Parrott wrote the authorized biography, Albert C. Outler the Gifted Dilettante, and served as General Editor of nine volumes of Outler’s edited lectures, all published by Bristol House Ltd. The Bob W. Parrott Papers (sermons, letters, papers, and memorabilia), housed in the archives of Bridwell Library, are to be used for research studies by students and scholars. Memorial services took place at First United Methodist Church of Longview on October 23. Parrott is survived by his wife of 70 years, Doris Ann Parrott. Read his obituary here.
Obit: The Rev. Kenneth Truelove
The Rev. Kenneth E. Truelove (M. Th. ’64) died Oct. 27 at age 87. Truelove had a lifelong commitment to ministry, first studying at the Perkins School of Theology in Dallas and then completing seminary at the Philadelphia Divinity School. Once ordained in the Episcopal Church, his career in the church took him to parishes from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., then to towns in central Illinois and Indiana, with an adventure serving congregations in the Livingston, Mont., area. Truelove dedicated himself to expanding the welcome of the Episcopal Church and the reach of faith to all, finding greatest satisfaction in strongly supporting those who had been historically marginalized in the church. A memorial service will be held at a future date. Condolence cards may be sent to the Truelove family at 611 S. Wells St., Apt. 2003, Chicago, IL 60607. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Colorado Episcopal Service Corps and the University of Chicago Medicine Sarswat Amyloid Research as listed under Kenneth Truelove at cremation-society.com. Read his obituary here.