December 2018

Advent is a time of expectation.  The seasonal hymns are full of anticipation: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; Savior of the Nations, Come.  But it is not only Christmas, the coming of God’s Messiah to the Bethlehem manger, that Christians anticipate.  The biblical hope also includes the expectation that God in Christ ultimately will right all wrongs and bring in everlasting peace.  It is this hope that is expressed so powerfully in Revelation 21:   I heard [...]

For the second year in a row, enrollment at Perkins has increased significantly, and applications are on track for yet another uptick in enrollment by next fall.  It’s a happy milestone for the Office of Enrollment Management, Perkins’ recently reorganized admissions and recruiting function.  The office was formed in 2017, following the arrival of Dean Craig Hill and the hiring of Margot Perez-Greene as Associate Dean for Enrollment Management.  “With the new vision brought forth by Dean Hill, it was an ideal time to refocus and [...]

Perkins’ fiscal year begins on June 1 and ends on May 31, but for most of us, our personal fiscal year ends on December 31 and coincides with our IRS tax responsibilities.  While the vast majority of us don’t give to charities in order to get a tax benefit, it is a nice advantage to claim on our income tax returns.  Because of the 2018 change in the U.S. tax law, I urge you to pay close attention this year.  With the loss of the personal exemption but the large increase in the standard deduction, along with new tax [...]

"Nativity," an 86 x 104-inch oil-on-canvas painting by Luke Allsbrook, is currently on display in the stairwell of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall.  The artwork pictures the birth of Jesus in the midst of a great heavenly battle, with imagery and text from the Nativity story in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Revelation.   "As a New Testament professor, I am strongly drawn to this painting because it encourages me to consider together very divergent scriptural texts and perspectives," said Dean [...]

As it has every year since 1959, the Perkins community will celebrate Advent by recalling an ancient story: the coming of the Christ Child. This year, however, the annual worship service will include some new twists. The December 6 Advent worship service will be the first led by Marcell Silva Steuernagel, Perkins’ new Director of the Master of Sacred Music program. “It’s a fresh take on something we do every year,” said Steuernagel. The Nativity According to Saint [...]

Many students come to Perkins with the goal of moving into a new job, advancing in a current career, or becoming ordained.   Stephanie Bohan’s goal, however, is to just keep on doing the job she’s already doing – “until the day I die,” she jokes – but doing it better.  The Agape Clinic provides medical care to the East Dallas Community. (Courtesy Agape Clinic) Bohan is Executive Director of The Agape Clinic, a nonprofit medical clinic which serves the community of East Dallas. On top of her job, she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Ministry degree part-time with a concentration [...]

Ruben Habito speaks four languages, travels widely and dialogues comfortably with people of many different faiths. But one simple, short Bible passage serves as his “home base.” It’s Mark 1:11, “You are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”   In Mark 1:11, Habito said, he finds a message that runs much deeper than a “warm fuzzy feeling” of being loved.  “It’s a way to look at the suffering and agony of all the people in the world throughout history and even now, including our own, and to understand, that in the midst of our travails, there is something or Someone that whispers into our ear, in and through all of this, that we are not forsaken, that ‘I AM with [...]

As senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Gladewater, Texas, David Lee doesn’t have a schedule that allows him to attend seminary full-time on campus. He tried an online program at a respected theology school, but it didn’t quite click. Then he discovered Perkins’ Houston-Galveston Extension Program. It proved a good fit.    “I need the convenience of an online program, but I didn’t enjoy engaging online with people I’d never met,” he said. “With the hybrid approach, you really do get to know people in the [...]

AAR-SBL presentations in Denver Perkins and SMU were well-represented when the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature took place Nov. 17-20 in Denver. Many Perkins School of Theology and SMU professors—as well as SMU Ph.D. students— presented research and participated on panels and in committees. A complete list of Perkins- and SMU-affiliated speakers, including their presentation topics, is available here. In addition, Perkins friends and alumni/ae at the meeting, as well [...]