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Latest News from Bridwell Library

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, November – December 2021

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Fall 2021

The thirteenth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; a story about the newly renamed Center for Methodist Studies at Bridwell Library; a tribute to Ian Tyson; a staff profile; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Fall 2021 Issue of The Bridwell Quarterly.

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, August – October 2021

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Summer 2021

The twelfth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; reports on the library’s reopening, the Dante Festival and the arrival of a new major collection; upcoming online exhibitions; a staff spotlight; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Summer 2021 Issue of The Bridwell Quarterly.

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, April – July 2021

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Spring 2021

The eleventh issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Spring 2021 Issue of The Bridwell Quarterly.

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, January – March 2021

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Winter 2021

The tenth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; recent acquisitions and winter gifts to Bridwell; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Winter 2021 Issue of The Bridwell Quarterly.

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, July – December 2020

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Fall 2020

The eighth and ninth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director, Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; passages and experiences of staff; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Summer / Fall 2020 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quarterly – Spring 2020

The seventh issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director, Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; passages and experiences of staff; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Spring 2020 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, February – April 2020

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Winter 2020

The sixth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director, Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; passages and experiences of staff; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Winter 2020 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, November – December 2019

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Fall 2019

The fifth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly includes a note from Bridwell Library Director, Anthony Elia, reflecting on the past few months; passages and experiences of staff; updates on the library’s renovations; upcoming online exhibitions; and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Fall 2019 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, September – October 2019

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, May – August 2019

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Summer 2019

The fourth issue of The Bridwell Quarterly completes the first annual cycle of publishing, and includes a note from Bridwell Library Director, Anthony Elia, passages and experiences of staff, a reflection on the library’s current state of change, and many more topics we hope you’ll enjoy.

Click to read the Summer 2019 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quill – Latest Note, March & April 2019

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Spring 2019

The third issue of The Bridwell Quarterly features a range of activities and events, not least of which is an old (though now discontinued) tradition, which former Bridwell staff member Charles Baker writes about: Savonarolafest.

Click to read the Spring 2019 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Library – May 2019

The Word Embodied

This fine press catalog, limited to two hundred copies, was designed and printed by Bradley Hutchinson at his letterpress printing office in Austin Texas. Reflecting the style of many of the items featured in the exhibition, the catalog comprises loose folios and sheets housed in a four-flap paper portfolio. The type is Espinosa Nova, designed by Cristóbal Henestrosa and based on the types of Antonio de Espinosa, the first typecutter in the New World, who was active in Mexico City between 1551 and 1576. The paper is Mohawk Superfine and the illustrations were printed by Capital Printing of Austin, Texas. The portfolio was constructed by Santiago Elrod. Images were prepared by Rebecca Howdeshell, Bridwell Library, using an i2S SupraScan Quartz A1 book scanner. 100 pages, folios housed in paper wrappers; color illustrations; 28 x 21 cm. Please visit www.smu.edu/bridwell to purchase your copy.

  • Arvid Nelsen, Curator and Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarian

All of Bridwell Library’s publications, including past issues of the Bridwell Quill and Bridwell Quarterly can be found here: blog.smu.edu/quarterly

Bridwell Quill – Spring 2019

Read the update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Library – February 2019

Bridwell Library announces an exhibition of some of the earliest and most important publications printed in Greek, which runs through May 20, 2019. The selection offers a glimpse into the richness and significance of materials accessible for study and appreciation at Bridwell Library Special Collections. For more information, visit our website.

From the January 2019 Issue of Perspective Online

Bridwell Quill – January 2019

Read the monthly update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

Bridwell Quarterly – Winter 2018

The second issue of The Bridwell Quarterly explores hidden aspects of the library’s collections, plus some remarkable encounters with people who have visited the library in recent months.

Click to read the Winter 2018 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

From the December 2018 Issue of Perspective Online

Bridwell Quill – December 2018

Read the monthly update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

 

From the November 2018 Issue of Perspective Online

Introducing Bridwell Quarterly, a new seasonal publication from Bridwell Library.

“In these pages and those of future publications, we hope to speak as a fellowship of colleagues, who support our patrons, neighbors, and friends. We welcome you all to Bridwell Library and hope that you will enjoy reading about the many events, projects, and activities that are happening in our community.” – Anthony Elia, Bridwell Library Director 

Click to read the Fall 2018 Issue of the Bridwell Quarterly

Bridwell Quill – November 2018

Read the monthly update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

 

From the October 2018 Issue of Perspective Online

Perkins Names Anthony Elia New Director of Bridwell Library

Anthony Elia has been named J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and Director of Bridwell Library at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, effective June 1. He succeeds retiring Director Roberta Schaafsma, who served in that role since April 2007. Read the full release here.

Bridwell Quill – October 2018

Read the monthly update from Bridwell Library Director Anthony Elia.

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

A Message from Dean Hill

Naturally, all of us closely associated with Perkins regard our school as a dynamic and vital partner with the church. Nevertheless, it is important from time to time to have the value of one’s work assessed by an impartial source. For that reason, last year all 13 United Methodist schools of theology commissioned a detailed study by Dr. Daniel O. Aleshire, who until recently served as the Executive Director of The Association of Theological Schools. (Dr. Aleshire worked for ATS for 27 years and is the preeminent authority on theological education in America.)

The new study comes at a challenging time for seminaries.  One issue it addressed concerns the fact that there are 13 United Methodist seminaries in the U.S., including Perkins.

Given widespread decline in enrollment (though Perkins itself has bucked this trend in recent years) and denominational discord, is that number justifiable? The results suggest that each of the U.M. theological schools plays a crucial role in developing Wesleyan church leaders – including the majority of United Methodist ordination candidates. The long-term picture, however, is less clear.

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

Office of Development

April is always a bittersweet month because we will soon say goodbye to students who will be graduating in May.

Our faculty and staff have formed bonds with these students, and are excited that many will be taking positions of leadership in the Church and in other settings.  We are confident that, with their natural gifts and abilities, and with the education they have received at Perkins, they will be successful in their lives of ministry.

Most of these graduates, along with the rest of the student body, could not have pursued their studies if they had not received significant financial help during their time at Perkins.  They will not be going out into high-paying jobs—they have been called to serve and empowered to lead, but have been not been given any assurance of financial independence!

Our many donor friends have been influential in helping them complete their degrees.  Each year, we receive more than $2.5 million from faithful donors so that Perkins’ operational needs are met, and scholarships can be awarded to worthy and needy students.

Because our enrollment is expanding, and we will have a larger student body next year, we will have even more demand for our scholarship dollars.  We need your help.

We are asking every friend of Perkins to make a contribution to the important ongoing work of our School of Theology.

To be a part, click here and select an area of your interest in the drop down menu.  If you don’t know which fund to select, let me suggest either the “SMU Fund for Perkins,” the Dean’s discretionary fund, or “Perkins School Student Financial Aid.”  Those two funds are the first two listed in the drop-down menu.

If you would rather give by check, make it out to “SMU” and on the notation line list the “SMU Fund for Perkins” or “Student Financial Aid.”  Send the check to me and I will make sure it gets into the right account.

John A. Martin
Perkins Development
PO Box 750133
Dallas, TX 75275-0133

As always, you can email (johnma@smu.edu) or call (214-768-2026).  Thank you for your generosity.

John A. Martin
Director of Development
Perkins School of Theology

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

MAST Program Launched at Perkins

Since its founding, Perkins School of Theology has prepared students for the pulpit.  Now, a new program is helping Perkins students to prepare to speak through alternative “pulpits” – books, blogs, film, music and other media.

The Minister-Author-Scholar-Teacher (MAST) Program, launched as a pilot venture in the fall of 2018, is a two-year program that offers resources and training to a select cohort of master’s level students at Perkins interested in writing or creating other media for the church and academy.

The inaugural “class” drew students with interests in film, music, blogging and Sunday School curriculum, as well as more academic writing, according to Ted A. Campbell, a Perkins faculty member and director of the MAST program.

“Most are students who want to be pastors but are also interested in creating material for a popular audience – the laypeople in the church,” he said. “They tend to be younger students who are media savvy and tech savvy. It’s a really interesting group.”

The group gathers for four events per semester.  In the second year, students will participate in a capstone course, with the goal of creating and submitting a publishable work, such as a book, to a publisher or media outlet.  The program has garnered endorsements from prominent authors, including the Rev. Adam Hamilton, Bishop Robert Schnase, Dr. Amy Oden and the Rev. Dr. Michael Waters. (See endorsements after article.)

February’s class featured Rachel Ridge, a popular author who writes about faith for a lay audience. Her most recent book, Walking with Henry: Big Lessons from a Little Donkey on Faith, Friendship, and Finding Your Path, was published in March 2019 by Tyndale.  Ridge shared her story about how, at a point when her family was struggling, they adopted a homeless donkey. That adventure led to her first book and the launch of her writing career.

After hearing Ridge speak, MAST participant Emily Clark (M.A.M., 2020) was inspired to begin posting daily on her blog, Our Beautiful, Messy Lives.

“I love to write; the MAST program is helping me to follow that interest and really develop it,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have a group of like-minded people – I call it a community of creative creators. They are a source of motivation and momentum.”

Campbell says the project is giving students practical pointers on marketing and disseminating their work, such as guidance on submitting a book proposal.

“One of the first questions an author must answer is ‘Who will read your book?’” Campbell said.  “And the wrong answer is, ‘Everybody.’ It’s challenging but it’s essential for an author to define his or her readership. It’s helping students with this interest to think in this way.”

“I immediately jumped at the chance for training and networking with other people who were interested in doing creative, well-researched Christian work made for a wide audience of people,” said Adam Lubbers, an M.Div. student in the MAST program.  “I am currently a youth director and I teach every week, primarily with lessons I write. I preach sermons to a congregation sometimes, and I enjoy watching TV shows, movies, and playing video games, and thinking about all of them theologically.”

Lubbers added that he’s interested in using popular culture to make complex theological themes accessible to a wider audience.

“Popular culture is something I utilize often whenever I teach teenagers and give sermons, and my future creative work will probably focus on this,” he said.

Future events will include gatherings with speakers like Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor and bestselling author; an SMU novelist who writes from a secular perspective; and the Rev. Arthur Jones, a pastor at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, who expresses key sermon themes across a variety of media – podcasts, blogs, video and more – in a coordinated approach.

Future events will include speakers like the Rev. Arthur Jones, a pastor at St. Andrew United Methodist in Plano, Texas, who expresses key sermon themes across a variety of media — podcasts, blogs, video and more — in a coordinated approach; and an SMU novelist who writes from a secular perspective. The Rev. Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor and bestselling author, spoke to the MAST students while on campus on March 28.

“I’m not aware of other theological schools undertaking such a program,” said Dean Craig C. Hill, who helped spearhead the MAST program.  “This is part of our vision of Perkins as ‘an academy for the whole church in the whole world.’  We need to encourage and educate the next generation of pastor/scholars who will produce books, film, and other media that are accessible to a popular audience but also theologically informed.”

In recent decades, it has been primarily more conservative churches that have been innovative in producing materials accessible to a wide audience, such as the wildly popular Left Behind fiction series. But these don’t necessarily reflect mainstream Christian scholarship. The Left Behind books, for example, are based on a very specific interpretation of apocalyptic biblical literature that has its origins in the 19th century. Campbell and Hill hope the MAST program will help to launch a new wave of similarly accessible materials that are grounded in the teachings of the historic mainline Protestant churches.

“Dean Hill has been thinking a long time about the need for Christian leaders to engage popular readership and viewership,” said Campbell. “The MAST program is a significant step in that direction.”

 

Application Information

A second cohort of students will begin the MAST program in the fall of 2019. Anyone interested should contact Ted A. Campbell at tedc@smu.edu.

Students who wish to be considered for the program should be accepted simultaneously into a Perkins master’s degree program and must have a 3.5 cumulative GPA (or equivalent) from their undergraduate degree-granting institution. In addition, they should submit two additional items for review to the Director of the Program: a formal letter of interest explaining the student’s sense of vocation as relates to the production of writing and/or other genres of creative media, and a sample of their creative work (writing or other media) for review.  Participants will be selected by the director of the program in consultation with the MAST program advisory group.

 

Endorsements

These four Perkins alumni, all accomplished authors and pastors, weighed in with their words of endorsement for the new program.

“Perkins’ new MAST program is a gift to pastors who feel called to write and teach, and to authors, scholars and teachers who are called to preach.  Study, shepherding, teaching, preaching and writing are all important elements of my ministry.  Each strengthens the others.  I am a better pastor because I write, and I am a better writer because I am a pastor.  Perkins’ new MAST program is the only program I know aimed at equipping students for this important integrated ministry.  If you feel called to write, to teach and to preach, you must take a serious look at this program.”

– The Rev. Adam Hamilton, bestselling author and senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.

 

“As we re-imagine church for the 21st century, the MAST program looks like an exciting move in the right direction, cultivating artists, prophets and poets who enter into the culture creatively, inviting new conversations in new places. We live so much of our lives in virtual villages of one sort or another, it’s critical to offer good news in these gathering spaces through podcasts, videos, blogs and new media.”

– Dr. Amy Oden, professor of early church history and spirituality at St. Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University and author of God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World.

 

“I began to intentionally cultivate the craft of writing while I was a seminary student at Perkins.  Writing is a contemplative experience for me and has become a cornerstone of my ministry.  It’s my way of learning, of engaging in deep conversation, and of offering myself to the church.  I’m delighted to recommend the MAST program to those seeking to multiply their ministry by cultivating their capacity for creative writing and teaching.  MAST provides the community of support, encouragement, and accountability that fosters creativity and courage.”

– Bishop Robert Schnase, writer, pastor, and bishop of the Rio Texas Annual Conference.

 

“Our world has long benefited from prodigious prophets who have used their pen to propel people to pursue new plateaus for faithful service to God and God’s creation. I am grateful for the intentionality of the MAST program to help raise up a new generation of prodigious prophets who will use their pens and cursors to do the same.”

-The Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters, author and founding pastor of Joy Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Dallas, Texas.   

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

2019 Perkins Theological School for the Laity

More than 200 laity and others gathered at the SMU campus this week (March 28-30) to pause and learn from some of the nation’s foremost teachers of the Bible, religion, theology, and ministry from the faculty of Perkins School of Theology.

The Perkins Theological School for the Laity 2019 began on Thursday, March 28, with two afternoon half-day courses, including “The Future of a Divided Church,” presented by the Rev. Adam Hamilton (M.Div. ’88), a bestselling author and pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. A worship service followed in Perkins Chapel during which John M. Esquivel was presented with the 2019 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award.  The award goes annually to a layperson in the United States who embodies the Christian faith and commitment of service to Christ in the church, community and world as exemplified by Judge Woodrow B. Seals, a distinguished layperson whose interest and energy were instrumental in establishing the Perkins Theological School for the Laity.

Thursday night’s public lecture, “Beyond the Myth: Social Media, Youth and Why the Church is Missing the Point,” was presented by Dr. Andrew Zirschky, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology & Youth Ministry at Memphis Theological Seminary.

The program continued on Friday and Saturday with additional courses, taught by Zirschky and Perkins faculty members Roy Heller, Jamie Clark-Soles and Mark Stamm.

“It’s a really great experience through these courses that allow us to enhance our faith, learn more about the Bible, about spirituality and our shared connectivity through faith,” said Courtney Kelly, who chairs the board for the Perkins Theological School for the Laity.

 

Photographs by H. Jackson and G. Rogers, SMU Photography.

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

Perkins’ Black Seminarians Host Seven Last Words

For many years, black churches have hosted a special Good Friday service called “Seven Last Words,” an African-American tradition woven around the last utterances of Christ before his death on the cross.  Three years ago, the Black Seminarians Association (BSA) of Perkins School of Theology hosted its inaugural Seven Last Words service at St. Luke “Community” UMC, and now it’s quickly becoming a Perkins tradition, too.

This year’s third annual Seven Last Words service will take place on Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at Salem Institutional Baptist Church, 3918 Crozier Street in South Dallas. All are welcome to attend.

“It’s a way to feature and preview young preachers who don’t often get an opportunity to preach from the pulpit,” said the Rev. Bryant Phelps (D. Min. ’17), pastor of Church of the Disciple in DeSoto. “Folks will have an opportunity to hear new preachers and to be inspired, knowing that the church is moving forward in good hands.”

Seven preachers – all Perkins students or recent alumni – will each offer a seven-minute sermon on each of the Seven Last Words, concluding with a message from the Rev. Todd Atkins (’07 M.T.S.), a Perkins alum and senior pastor of Salem Institutional Baptist.

Phelps, who was an officer of the BSA while at Perkins, was the visionary behind the annual event. This year’s worship celebration is coordinated by Christian S. Watkins (MDiv, ‘19), 2018-19 BSA President, assisted by LaTasha Roberts (MDiv, ‘20) and Justin Carter (MDiv, ’19.) The service will contain somber elements – such as a stripping of the altar, followed by the exit of worshippers, in silence, at the end.  But other elements are rooted in the “homegoing experience” – the celebratory, sometimes revival-like funeral tradition of the African-American church. Musical groups and praise dancers from St. Luke’s “Community” United Methodist Church will participate in the event.

While the 2017 and 2018 events were held at nearby United Methodist churches, this year’s location was chosen “in consideration of the push for interdenominational support for all of our Perkins sisters and brothers as well as the desire to uplift, preach and pray in one of Dallas’ most disenfranchised parts,” said Watkins.

Watkins is the Neighborhood Relationship Intern for the North Texas Conference’s Zip Code Connection, an effort working with residents in two zip codes to help recreate vibrant, thriving communities.  One of the two is South Dallas Fair Park (zip code 75215), home to Salem Institutional Baptist Church.

“We want to highlight the fact that the south of Dallas needs attention,” Watkins said. “We intentionally chose the area so that we can commiserate and commune with that community.  I hope our prayers can be a springboard for new ideas and new things to happen in that area.”

The seven preachers who will be featured in the service include:

  • Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” – The Rev. Lisa Bozeman, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and an intern at Hamilton Park UMC)
  • Luke 23:43: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” – The Rev. Joyce Brooks (’18 M.Div., and ’20 D.Min. candidate, and senior pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Beaumont, Texas.
  • John 19:26–27: “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother” – Justin Carter, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and intern at Light of the World Church of Christ.
  • Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” –The Rev. Enid Henderson, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and executive pastor of Jones Memorial UMC in Houston.
  • John 19:28: “I thirst.” – The Rev. Sharon Larkin, a D.Min. candidate, expected graduation 2020, and pastor of administration at St. Luke “Community” UMC.
  • John 19:30: “It is finished.” – The Rev. Dr. Ervin D. Seamster, Jr. (D.Min.), senior pastor at Light of the World Church of Christ.
  • Luke 23:46: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” – The Rev. Todd Atkins.
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April 2019 News Perspective Online

Staff Update: Tracy Anne Allred

Tracy Anne Allred with her family at the Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Tracy Anne Allred, Assistant Dean of Student Life, was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2019, at her alma mater, Palm Beach Gardens Community High School (PBGCHS) in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in an induction ceremony on March 10 in the school’s auditorium.

Allred, a 1989 graduate of PBGCHS, was honored as a multiple sport athlete, earning 10 varsity letters (in 12 sports seasons) in volleyball, soccer and softball. She played on the school’s 4A State Championship Softball Team, which captured titles in 1986, 1988 and 1989.

In volleyball, her accomplishments included twice MVP, 2nd team All-Conference, 2nd team All-Academic as a junior and 1st team as a senior, team motivator award, coaches award for defense, and she scored the most points in the district tournament for the district runner-up Gators her senior year.

In soccer, Allred also earned All-Conference and all area acclaim, MVP honors, Sun Sentinel First Team and Palm Coast 2nd team, 1st team All-Academic, and in 1988 was a key contributor to the District 9 and Region 6 team championships.

In softball, Allred starred on 3 state championship slow pitch softball teams, hitting .466 her senior year and being named 1st team All Area by the Palm Beach Post in addition to all conference.

Her senior classmates voted her “Most Athletic”, the Gardens staff nominated her for the Palm Beach Post Pathfinder Award in Sports, and Gator coaches voted her “Female Athlete of the Year.”

These athletic honors were in addition to other, numerous extracurriculars; Allred was also the high school’s Marching Band Drum Major for two years, played in the symphonic band, served as President of the Florida Future Educators of America chapter on campus, Treasurer of the National Honor Society, and a member of the senior class council.

“I think my most memorable sports experience from high school sports was learning the values of working as a member of a team,” Allred said. “I learned that no single person won (or lost) a ball game.  We relied on each other’s strengths and cheered for each other’s achievements.”

Congratulations, Tracy Anne!

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

Student Spotlight: David Kim

If you want a sense of David Kim’s outlook on life, turn to Ecclesiastes 3:11: “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Kim calls that verse his “spiritual mac and cheese” – comfort food that nourished him in times of struggle as he embraced the Christian faith, coming from a non-believing family, and eventually decided to pursue a seminary education.

“When I was first getting into the church and being active, I didn’t really know what it meant to be Christian, other than going to church,” he said. “It was hard for me to understand many of the concepts.  This verse tells me that God has made it so we can’t know everything. But he also gives us provision to see everything as beautiful.”

Kim began attending Bible study while in high school and was active in First Korean United Methodist Church in Richardson, near his undergraduate school, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).  The church was a big source of support when his mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and ultimately passed away in 2016.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 also talks about timing – something that played a big role in Kim’s path to Perkins. He is currently in his second semester in the M.Div. program at Perkins’ Houston-Galveston campus, with plans to graduate in 2021 and pursue a career in the chaplaincy.

Kim, who lives in College Station, was able to make that work because his decision to attend seminary coincided serendipitously with the launch of the hybrid approach at Houston-Galveston in the fall of 2018.  With the transition to the hybrid model, the Houston-Galveston Extension program’s previous Dallas campus residency requirement was waived. Houston-Galveston students take nine credit hours, or three courses, each semester and attend three semesters (rather than two) per year. Students are required to be physically present for 20 hours of face-to-face instruction—10 hours at the beginning and end of each semester—per class.

Kim had been pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering but by Christmas of 2017, felt a strong call to study at Perkins and pursue the chaplaincy. He applied, doubtful he’d be admitted, and if he did, expecting he would need to work full-time at least a year to make returning to school financially feasible.

“I got in and received a scholarship, so I felt God made a really clear path for me,” he said. The Houston-Galveston program, with its hybrid approach blending online and in-person coursework, allows him to continue to work part-time as a programmer.

David and his wife Danielle Kim.

Kim followed in the footsteps of his wife, Danielle Kim, a Perkins student at the Dallas campus who will graduate with an M.Div. in May. She is on track to be ordained as an elder in the North Texas conference.

Now, timing is on Kim’s mind again. Just as Danielle is near completion of her degree, he’s almost ready to begin the specialized coursework he’ll need for the chaplaincy. The couple is planning to move from College Station, where they live now, to Dallas sometime in the next year. He hopes to ultimately complete his degree at the SMU campus and to get additional training at a Dallas-area hospital or hospice.

Perkins was the only seminary Kim considered; he says it was a “natural choice.”

“The faculty is amazing,” he said. “Just being able to study with people whose names you hear regularly around the United Methodist Church: Abraham Smith, Billy Abraham, Ted Campbell – that’s wonderful,” he said, adding that his wife had talked often about the classes she was taking and the conversations she was having with these faculty members.

“My wife is a really good recruiter,” he said.

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April 2019 News Perspective Online

Faculty Profile: Abraham Smith

If you doubt whether the Bible is relevant today, talk to Abraham Smith. His wide-ranging work centers on connecting Biblical texts to modern issues – as well as contributing to a major, worldwide effort to update a translation of the Bible itself.

Currently, Smith is on sabbatical. He recently completed a book manuscript that examines mass incarceration in tandem with Luke’s critique of injustice in the Roman empire.

“There are imprisonment scenes all over the Book of Acts,” he said. “The book compares the prisons of today with prisons mentioned in the Book of Acts.”

He’s also working on research focused on church-based moral movements in four different time periods: The 1st century moral movement of which Jesus was a part; the anti-lynching crusade of Ida B. Wells in the late 19th  and early 20th centuries; the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of the 1960s led by Martin Luther King, Jr.; and the Third Reconstruction new fusion politics movement, begun in 2013 and led by the Rev. William Barber II of North Carolina, fighting for justice and against poverty.

“I’m looking at all four moral movements for their prophetic rhetoric, how they crafted their words and ideas to change public sentiment,” Smith said.

Smith, a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, also serves as a National Council of Churches’ representative to the editorial board that is overseeing an updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). The Society of Biblical Literature, which developed the mandate for the updated edition in collaboration with the National Council of Churches, also recruited the editorial team and now manages the editorial process.

“The National Council of Churches owns the publishing rights to the NRSV, and there’s a 30-year review underway,” he said. “It’s not going to be a complete revision, but it will be an update, made in light of advances in scholarship, the publication of new manuscripts, and new information about the meaning of the words themselves. There’s also an effort to create more consistency in the text critical notation patterns.”

The most recent version was published in 1989; the next — after some debate, dubbed the “NRSV Update” — is scheduled for publication in 2020.  The NRSV Update will continue to aim for the NRSV’s goal of being “as literal as possible and as graceful as possible.”

Smith has also been commissioned to do two other works: a book on the Black Studies movement in higher education, which began in the late 1960s and early 1970s and continues under the banner of African-American Studies or Africana Studies; and an essay looking at Howard Thurman and his seminal influential  treatise, Jesus and the Disinherited, originally published in 1949.  Thurman (1900-1981), an African-American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader, served as dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University from 1953 to 1965 and co-founded the first major interracial, interdenominational church in the United States.

“I’m writing an essay on that classic text for the 70th anniversary,” Smith said. “It’s an examination of the historical Jesus in the light of his attempts to address the needs of the disinherited and marginalized – persons with their ‘backs against the wall’.”

Abraham Smith with Andrea Chambers, a Perkins alum and board member of Equity for Women in the Church.

Smith is also involved in advocacy and educational efforts that take him beyond the walls of the academy. He’s on the board of a group called Equity for Women in the Church, an ecumenical movement helping congregations become more “female friendly,” and locally, he’s part of the Urban Engagement Book Club.

The book club is hosted by CitySquare Opportunity Center, an urban ministry program based in South Dallas, and has studied books on social justice topics ranging from Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy to Joyce King’s Hate Crime.

“I get a chance to hear about interesting books that I need to read,” he said. “And since we’re always talking about how these books deal with an issue in society, that keeps me grounded.”

Teaching Specialties

Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, 1 Thessalonians

Research Interests

 African American biblical hermeneutics, cultural studies

Favorite Bible Verse

Proverbs 4:18, But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. “I discovered this verse when I saw the words in Spanish in an email from a friend in Chile,” Smith said. “I wondered where they came from and was shocked to learn they were from the Bible!  I’ve been fascinated with this verse ever since.”

Book on the Nightstand

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  The book looks at the presidential leadership styles of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.  “The author looks at each of these four presidents’ ability to adapt,” he said. “Given the turbulent times we live in, I see the book as instructive about how leaders can adapt today in the face of personal and public difficulties.”

Fantasy dinner party

 “I’d make it a small dinner party. I’d invite two persons I’m writing about: Ida B. Wells and Howard Thurman.  The topic of discussion: How does one change the narrative or various myths that deny each person the right to have dignity and respect? That’s a concern for me. There are so many instances where persons are counted as nobodies because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or class.  How do we change the narrative to give value and dignity to each person?”

Family

I’m originally from Mobile, Ala. My mother, Pauline Robinson Smith, died at a young age; so my father, Calvin Lewis Smith, a blind man, raised five children by himself. He was a minister who learned to read Braille and do trades.  Friends and relatives wanted to break up my family, but my father insisted on raising us together, and all of us finished college and have done well in life. Three have master’s degrees, and I have a Ph.D.  Both of my parents are gone now, but they still live and breathe in everything I do.”

Something about you that most people don’t know?

Despite being gregarious, I don’t crave public attention. I’m very quiet and I love a lot of alone time.”

You get to ask one question at the Pearly Gates. What do you ask?

“I don’t think much about the afterlife, but I would like to know, ‘Are those gates there to let people in, or to keep people out?’ We hear so much about walls and gates. Whatever heaven is going to be, I hope it doesn’t translate into more structures that separate us.”

Do you follow a regular, personal practice (prayer, meditation, walking, etc.) that nourishes your spirit?

“I can’t live without music.  Music nourishes my spirit. Every day I wake up to Kirk Whalum’s ‘Hymns: in the Garden.’ It’s a gospel CD of purely instrumental jazz. That music centers me for whatever my day brings.”

 

 

Categories
April 2019 News Perspective Online

Faculty Update

Alyce McKenzie translates advice for good preaching into tips for politicians

As Director of the Center for Preaching Excellence, Alyce McKenzie teaches preachers how to have something important to say and to say it well from the pulpit. (Rule one: Don’t bore the hell out of people.) She translates advice for preachers into tips for politicians, in this column in Inside Sources, an online aggregator of opinion pieces. Read it here.

 

 

Anthony J. Elia: Libraries aren’t dead – far from it

Futurists have predicted the decline of the library for decades; in the early 2000s, many believed that all books would be digitized or online and the need for libraries would soon disappear.  Instead, there has been a concerted return to and re-emergence of the physical book, a now booming used-book market, a steady decline in e-book sales — and a return to a physical reality of the printed word that many people did not expect, according to Anthony J. Elia, the J.S. Bridwell Foundation Endowed Librarian and Director of Bridwell Library at SMU Dallas.  His column appeared in Inside Sources and the West Virginia Gazette Mail.