Six African-American pastors from the South Central Jurisdiction recently completed a preaching excellence program co-sponsored by the Black Church Initiative of the North Texas Conference and the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU. The leadership team that put the program together included Rev. Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins and director of the Center for Preaching Excellence. The team developed a vision for a program to take good preaching to next-level greatness shaped by the “Four P’s of Preaching: Passion, Purpose, Preparation and Plot.” Another cohort is planned for 2019-20.
As a young mother, singing alto in the Highland Park Methodist Church choir, Jane Marshall decided to compose music for a text she loved — the Rev. Edward Caswall’s English translation of an anonymous Latin poem from the 17th century.
Eventually titled “My Eternal King,” the stirring anthem had its debut at Highland Park Methodist Church in 1952, with Marshall conducting. Two years later it was published, and gradually became a staple of church choirs, giving the composer a measure of fame and a succession of welcome royalty checks. Read the UMNS obituary here.
“When you ask God for a sign, you really need to be prepared for what you’re going to get,” says Jennifer Kilpatrick (M.Div. ’21), because it could potentially be pretty extreme.” For Kilpatrick, the sign was a freak snowfall in New Orleans that came just moments after she received word that she’d been accepted to Perkins School of Theology.
She applied for a Charles Stokes Scholarship to Perkins and received it. “I’m extravagantly blessed,” she said. Listen to her testimony here, posted to promote a May 6 golf tournament fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=374861356455732
Through a new partnership between St. Andrew UMC in Plano and Perkins School of Theology at SMU, the Charles Stokes Seminary Education Scholarship Fund provides scholarship funds each year to two qualified applicants who show gifts for a promising future in church leadership,in the amount of $15,000 each. In addition, St. Andrew mentors the students over three years to help develop them into future leaders of the United Methodist Church.
GCAH Awards
Two students have been honored for their work by the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church.
An essay by Joyce Vanderlip (M.Div. ’20) won first place in the 2019 John Harrison Ness Memorial Award for student essays. The Commission offers the award to M.Div. students in United Methodist seminaries who submit papers on an aspect of Methodist history. Her paper, “Albert C. Outler: A Builder of Interfaith Relations,” was submitted by Professor Ted Campbell.
Kristina Roth (M.Div. ’20) received the 2019 Women in United Methodist History Writing Award for her paper, “An Analysis of the Work of Georgia Harkness.” Both received cash prizes as part of their awards.
The Rev. Dr. Kim Cape. Photo courtesy of United Methodist Insight.
Rev. Dr. Kim Cape (M.Div.’79, D.Min.’03) General Secretary of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church, has announced that she will retire later this year. She spent 43 years under appointment with The United Methodist Church and the last eight of those at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM).
“I am well aware that my retirement coincides with a major period of upheaval for The United Methodist Church,” she said. “I would not be able to leave if I did not have total confidence in the leadership team we’ve put together. They are outstanding. Through them, I believe we’ve assembled the vehicle that can carry the freight of our ministry forward.”
Cheryl Ann Scramuzza
Cheryl Ann Scramuzza (M.Div., ’18) was ordained in the The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest. The ordination service was held May 19 at Northway Christian Church in Dallas.
Obituaries
Rev. John C. Johnson
The Rev. John C. Johnson (M. Th., ’50) passed away May 21. A World War II veteran, retired USAF major, retired professor, and beloved father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Johnson celebrated his 95th birthday on Easter Sunday. He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Helen M. Johnson. He served in the Army during WWII in the 20th Armored Division and received a Bronze Star, then completed his undergraduate degree at Texas Wesleyan College in Fort Worth. Following his graduation from Perkins, he was assigned to churches in New Mexico. In 1952, he entered the U.S. Air Force and served as a Chaplain for about 20 years in many countries and states. After retirement, he served many rural churches as pastor until age 90. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Methodist Children’s Home or your favorite charity.
Glenn Alvin Chambers
Glenn Alvin Chambers (M.Div., ’59) died on May 27 at the Hutchinson Hospice House in Hutchinson, Kan. Chambers served churches in Texas and in Glenwood Springs, Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado. He served in many leadership roles in the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church including chairman of the conference Board of Trustees, chairman of the conference Council on Finance and Administration and District Superintendent of the Pueblo district. Glenn taught at Denver University’s Iliff School of Theology, was a 32nd degree Mason and was involved in a variety of volunteer organizations during his life. He is survived by his wife Melinda, daughter and son-in-law Deborah and Dieter Martin, son and daughter-in-law Christopher and Ashley Chambers, seven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. The funeral service was held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson on June 4. Memorials may be given to the Sterling United Methodist Church, Trinity United Methodist Church or an organization of donors’ choice in care of Birzer Funeral Home, Sterling.
Priscilla Pope-Levison, Associate Dean for External Programs and Professor of Ministerial Studies at Perkins, will be one of the preachers in the Summer Worship Series at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, on Sunday, July 7. See the speaker lineup here.
Pope-Levison and her husband, Jack Levison, will also lead a retreat at Lake Junaluska beginning the next day, titled “Come, Holy Spirit.” Attendees will “search the world of the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, where the Spirit hovers, fills, rushes, clothes, rests and is poured out upon people,” according to promotional materials. “By studying the Old and New Testaments in this retreat, you will learn to expect the unexpected of the Spirit, to prepare for the unprecedented and, just as important, to discover the unlikely presence of the Spirit where you might least expect it – in the grit and grime of everyday life.” For more information, visit the website here.
