A paper by Perkins student Seth Botts, “Keep Them Safe: The Bishops of The Western Jurisdiction of the UMC declare to protect gay clergy,” was chosen as winner of the John Ness Memorial Award by the General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH). Botts’s professor, Dr. Ted Campbell, submitted the work. The paper will appear in the December 2024 of GCAH’s scholarly journal, Methodist History.
2024 South Central Jurisdictional Conference Recap
Perkins School of Theology was well-represented at the 15th South Central Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church, held July 10-12 at Central Rogers United Methodist Church in Rogers, Ark.
On the conference’s second day, a report from Perkins was presented by Andy Keck, Perkins’s Chief of Staff and Assistant Dean of Marketing & Communications, ad interim. Keck extended words of greeting to the conference from Dr. Hugo Magallanes, Dean, ad interim, and expressed appreciation to Bishop Michael McKee, who “faithfully served Perkins interim dean for almost a year and half after his retirement from the episcopacy.”
On July 11, eleven speakers delivered “LED Talks,” reflecting on the conference theme, “Led Forth in Peace.” Followed the format of “TED Talks,” each 8-minute talk provided information through inspirational storytelling and visuals. Three Perkins alumni were among the LED speakers:
Perkins also hosted a table in the exhibit area to greet alumni and to meet prospective students.
Christy Clark and Thomas “Tag” Green both have day jobs. Clark is a director at Southwestern Medical Center in Lawton, Okla. Green sells mechanical tubing for manufacturing, as a territory manager for National Tubing Supply.
But Clark, 53, and Green, 62, also share the same vocation — serving the United Methodist Church. And they’re both well prepared, thanks to the Course of Study School (COSS) at Perkins School of Theology.
COSS is a program of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) of the United Methodist Church, in partnership with and administered by Perkins. It’s designed to provide the basic theological education prescribed in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, offering an alternative for students who cannot attend seminary to prepare for ministry through summer and part-time study. Clark and Green were among the six Summer 2024 students who graduated from the COSS program on August 3 in ceremonies held at the Dallas campus.
Until 2020, the program consisted of two sessions, in January and July each involving one weeks of classes at the Dallas campus of Perkins followed by two weeks of online study. The program went online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now most of the courses are virtual.
“During the pandemic, students discovered they really liked the accessibility of online education,” said Melissa Hernandez Probus, Associate Director of COSS. “Our students can take courses anywhere.”
While the program is mostly virtual, COSS leaders felt an in-person graduation ceremony was important.
“Completing the COSS program is a significant achievement,” said Hernandez Probus. “It’s a rigorous and demanding journey.”
Currently there are 70 students enrolled in COSS, representing a wide variety of backgrounds, socioeconomic groups and geographic areas. This summer’s session was attended by 50 students from 18 annual conferences, including Eastern Pennsylvania, Cal-Pac, and Florida.
“Being virtual means we have no boundaries and reach a wider audience,” Hernandez Probus said.
Most of the students, like Green and Clark, are second-career pastors preparing to serve bi-vocationally. Completing the program meant juggling coursework along with jobs and family and church responsibilities.
In addition to a rigorous theological education, COSS students enjoy opportunities for spiritual formation. Marcell Steuernagel, Assistant Professor of Church Music at Perkins, organizes regular online worship services so that COSS students can gather virtually for spiritual reflection.
The Basic Course of Study curriculum includes 20 courses in four tracks: Theological Heritage, Pastoral Identity, Congregational Ministry and Bible. Students receive a certificate of completion when they complete the entire 20 courses. Completion of the Basic Course of Study makes the local pastor eligible for Associate Membership in the annual conference. Those who complete the Basic Course of Study may opt to continue in the Advanced Course of Study, which is designed to fulfill requirements for probationary and full membership in an annual conference and ordination where a non-seminary option is offered.
At Perkins, Course of Study School summer classes are offered in both English and Spanish. Perkins is one of only two theology schools in the United States authorized by GBHEM to provide the Course of Study in Spanish.
In addition to the COSS program, Perkins oversees three extension schools that offer courses for part-time local pastors: the Texas Annual Conference Extension, taught on Saturdays, with six courses in the spring (March – May) and fall (September – November) semesters; the North Texas Annual Conference Extension, which offers classes in the spring, summer and fall; and the Arkansas Annual Conference Extension, which offers Saturday classes at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. The program also added two satellite schools in 2018, one in the Western Jurisdiction, taught in Spanish; and in 2020, at the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.
A Ten-Year Journey
Christy Clark first felt drawn to ministry more than a decade ago, while serving as a District Lay Leader in the Oklahoma Annual Conference.
“I just felt the call,” she said. “God has done so much in my life and for my family. How do you say no?”
Because she only attended the summer sessions – using her vacation time – it took Clark ten years to complete the program. Now she serves a two-point charge, preaching every Sunday at First United Methodist in Temple, Okla., and at Lawton Heights United Methodist in Lawton, Okla.
“When I first felt the call to ministry, I told my mentor, ‘I’m not that well-versed on the Bible,’” Clark recalled. “She said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’ll learn all about the Bible through COSS.”
She felt she received a great education through the COSS program.
“Each class was eye-opening and broadened my horizons,” she said. “Each stretched me in a unique way.”
Her COSS education also informs Clark’s work at the hospital.
“We do not have a chaplain on staff,” she said. “Occasionally, I’ve been asked to visit with patients or families that requested a Methodist pastor. That’s been such a blessing to me.”
A Ministry of Presence
Tag Green is not currently serving in an appointment but preaches occasionally and handles special projects for the Central Texas Conference.
Over the years, he has alternated between working at National Tubing and full-time stints in ministry, including a two-point charge from 2020-2022 at the First United Methodist in Ballinger, Texas, and the First United Methodist Church of Winters, Texas.
Green says the COSS coursework prepared him as a pastor and a preacher and helped him become a more empathetic listener.
“Even though I’m not appointed to a church right now, I believe we’re all in ministry every day,” he said.
Green is based in Fort Worth, and travels often for work. While eating out on the road, he likes to sit at the bar and strike up conversations with fellow diners.
“When I tell people, ‘I’m a United Methodist pastor,’ that leads to all kinds of conversations,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to just listen. In a world where church attendance is shrinking, where else do you meet people in need of conversation?”
Another benefit of COSS: It taught Green to enjoy lifelong learning. He did not have the chance to finish college, so he was initially intimidated by the prospect of hitting the books.
Before COSS, he said, “I had not really picked up a book to study in almost 30 years. COSS taught me to enjoy learning again.”
The program wrapped up its 2024 summer session in mid-August. The next session of COSS begins October 1; registration is open until September 10.
Sixty-five people were in attendance for the Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning, which took place August 23-24 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Houston.
A highlight of the event was a Lunch and Learn featuring Darlene and Terry Wildman, the Grammy-nominated and Nammy award-winning recording duo who perform as RainSong. The Wildmans live in Maricopa, Arizona, on the traditional Pima and Tohono O’odham lands. Terry Wildman, who is Lead Translator of the First Nations Version, an indigenous translation of the New Testament, also delivered the keynote lecture.
“Attendees were fascinated by their conversation and their work,” said Bart Patton, Director of the Office of External Programs at Perkins School of Theology. “So much of our work now in ministry involves appreciating and including wisdom from different contexts and cultures. The Wildmans helped us understand how native cultures engage the particular narratives and key elements of the Christian message.”
The Summit, hosted by Perkins School of Theology, offers a wide range of theological mini-courses for laypersons, community leaders and clergy. This year’s audience was made up of about 45% laity, 23% lay professionals and 32% clergy, with most coming from the Texas Annual Conference and the Houston area. Among those in attendance were Cynthia Fierro Harvey (M.Div. ’99), Bishop of the Texas Annual Conference, who took a course alongside clergy and laity from the conference. Harvey was 2018 recipient of the Perkins Distinguished Alumni Award.
“We love creating these learning communities,” said Patton. “We had folks in their late 20s, all the way up to their 80s. And St. Luke’s is an ideal place for this kind of gathering. They’re always so hospitable and connected with Perkins and the annual conference.” He added that the Rev. Dr. Tom Pace (M. Div., 1982) is St. Luke’s Senior Pastor and a 2023 recipient of the Perkins Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Barton Lecture was also scheduled as part of the event, but due to a last-minute cancellation by planned speaker Erica Ramirez, attendees heard a lecture on “Faith and Film – Storytelling, Morality and Evangelism,” delivered by Hugo Magallanes, Dean ad interim of Perkins.
This Summer, Perkins Representatives Attended 23 Annual Conferences Around the U.S.
Summertime has always been annual conference season for several Perkins faculty and staff, who fan out to various annual (regional) conferences of the United Methodist Church to represent Perkins School of Theology, catch up with alumni and meet prospective students. But this year, Perkins’ reach extended further than ever.
“We visited 23 annual conferences, including four – Michigan, North Carolina, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Greater New Jersey – for the first time,” said Andrew Keck, Chief of Staff and Assistant Dean of Marketing & Communications, ad interim. “That’s more than we’ve ever visited in one year, at least in recent memory. With our new hybrid program, we felt it was important to broaden our scope geographically.”
Perkins staff were on hand for these annual conferences: North Texas, Texas, Greater New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Alaska, Great Plains, CalPac, Rio Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee/Western Kentucky, Northwest Texas, Eastern Pennsylvania, Florida, Dakotas, Oklahoma Indian Missionary, Central Texas, New Mexico and Desert Southwest. In addition, Perkins reps attended the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Those traveling to the events from Perkins included Andy Keck; Bart Patton, Assistant Dean of External Programs and Church Relations; Christina Rhodes, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management; Rachel Holmes, Program Specialist, Intern Program; Dr. Hugo Magallanes, Dean, ad interim for Perkins School of Theology; Wes Allen, Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics; Joell Stanislaus, Executive Assistant to the Dean; Jesus Urdiales Rodriguez, Program Specialist, CASA (Centro de Acompañamiento, Solidaridad y Adiestramiento); Emilie Williams, Ministry Discernment Associate; alum Flor Granillo (M.Div., 2019); Heather Gottas Moore, Associate Director of Recruitment and Admissions; Caleb Palmer, Associate Director of Recruiting & Enrollment Marketing; and Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles, Professor of New Testament and Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Perkins.
A few highlights and Perkins connections from the 2024 “Annual Conference Tour”:
At the Texas Annual Conference, Dr. Magallanes presented on the CASA (Centro de Acompañamiento Solidaridad y Adiestramiento) and M.Div. in Spanish programs and met with Hispanic pastors in the conference, held June 9-12 in Houston. Magallanes’ presence generated interest in the upcoming Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning in Houston as well as inquiries from prospective students.
At the North Texas Annual Conference, held June 2-4 at First United Methodist Church in Richardson, the Rev. Michael Gienger (M.Div., 2017) was keynote speaker. Gienger is an ordained elder in the Texas Annual Conference and has been serving as co-pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Galveston, Texas, since 2014. He is also the founder of Galveston Housing Plus (GH+) — a new nonprofit providing supportive housing for persons exiting homelessness.
The Rev. Kristina Roth-Klinck (M.Div., 2020) represented Perkins at the Iowa Annual Conference. Roth-Klinck splits her time equally between two locations, as Associate Pastor at Lovely Lane United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and at Nourished, one of Iowa conference’s newest communities of faith.
Andy Keck met 12 Perkins alumni at the Michigan Annual Conference, held May 30-June 1 in Lansing. He also participated in the 30-year recognition of Bishop David Bard, who earned a PhD from SMU in 1994. Bishop Bard was elected to the episcopacy by the North Central Jurisdiction in 2016 and is currently the presiding bishop of the Michigan Area.
Dr. Ashley Boggan was a speaker at the Rio Texas Annual Conference. Boggan is the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History and the daughter of two Perkins alumni: The late Rev. Rebecca Boggan (M.S.M. ‘80 and Master of Music ‘80) and the late Rev. Dr. William “Kurt” Boggan (Th.M. ‘81, D.Min. ‘93).
“Attending this many annual conferences involved a lot of work and the help of many people at Perkins, but we think it’s important to continue to expand and deepen Perkins’ reach,” said Patton.
Rev. Dr. Charles Aaron, co-director of the Perkins Intern Program since 2017, passed away unexpectedly on Nov. 29. After undergraduate studies at Lambuth College and earning a Master of Counseling from Memphis State University, Chuck received his Master of Divinity from Perkins in 1985 and a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Union Theological Seminary in 1996. He was an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, where he served as pastor at numerous churches over the years.
In addition to his wife, Sandra, he is survived by two sisters and their husbands, three nephews and one niece, and countless friends.
The Perkins community honored Chuck during a special service of remembrance Nov. 30. A celebration of Chuck’s life is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at Oak Lawn UMC. If you have any photo memories of Chuck you’d like to share, please send them to photos@olumc.org. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Oak Lawn UMC or the Coalition for Safe Spaces in Lebanon.
Twelve Perkins students were awarded degrees during SMU’s commencement exercises, which took place Saturday, Dec. 16.
Congratulations to these individuals for their time at Perkins, their dedication to coursework and their transition to Perkins alumni:
Doctor of Ministry: Deborah DeFrank Tipps, Brandon Lacey, Jimmy Decee Greene Jr.,
Master of Divinity: Reyner Daniel De la Torre, Sandra Rene Allison, LaToya Chameka Johnson, Edna Faye York, Eunbyul Cho, Emmanuel Edore Asekhame
Master of Theological Studies: Natalie Celeste Gama, Katherine Boyd
Master of Theology: Jae Jun Cho
Priscilla Pope-Levison, Research Professor of Practical Theology at Perkins, wrote a blog post for The Pastor’s Workshop in which she discussed how churches can create a culture of testimony in their worship. Pope-Levison highlights the work of several churches that are part of cohorts in Testimony HQ, a Lilly Endowment, Inc.-funded initiative (for which she is co-principal investigator) that focuses on developing thriving congregations through the practice of testimony as community engagement.
Ruben L.F. Habito, Professor of World Religions and Spirituality at Perkins and Director of Spiritual Formation, spoke on the importance of gratitude in a recent column that appeared in The Dallas Morning News.
Ted Campbell, Albert C. Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins, will assume the role as the archivist of the Texas Annual Conference.
Jaime Clark-Soles, Professor of New Testament, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Perkins, recently delivered a webinar with the Cleveland Clinic: “Psychedelics and Soul Care.” She discussed her experiences in understanding the intersection of psychedelics, soul work and religious experience.
Susanne Scholz, Professor of Old Testament at Perkins, was included in a recent article in Texas Monthly magazine featuring the formation of Market Street UMC in Mabank, Texas.
Harold J. Recinos, Professor of Church and Society at Perkins, delivered the benediction at the unveiling of a historical marker honoring William Allen Taylor, who was a lynching victim in 1884.
Danny Sebastian, a Ph.D. student in Religious Studies, was one of 10 finalists of SMU’s annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Sebastian presented his research – “Accounting for Ethics: Addressing Social Challenges through an Accounting Lens” – in non-specialist language in less than three minutes with the assistance of one static PowerPoint slide. Participants were judged on the effectiveness of their presentations and their ability to convince the judges of the impact of their research.
Perkins graduates Cassie Wade (M.Div. ’13) and Jim Dees (M.T.S. ’19) were included in a recent article in Texas Monthly magazine featuring the formation of Market Street UMC in Mabank, Texas.
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Booker (M.Div. ’86) passed away Nov. 22 in Dallas. For 37 years, Dr. Booker served United Methodist churches in both the Texas and North Texas annual conferences. He retired from Highland Park UMC in July 2023.
Rev. Kay Reed (M.Div. ’91) passed away Oct. 19 in Brenham, Texas. Upon graduation and ordination, she began a career as one of the first women ministers in the Northwest Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church, serving churches in Lubbock, Meadow, Ropesville, Earth, Colorado City, Albany, Moran, Tulia and Brenham.
This year’s event features a diverse lineup of lecturers who will challenge attendees – clergy and laypersons alike – to answer the following questions:
Join Esau McCaulley, Carolyn J. Sharp, Eric D. Barreto and Terry Wildman as they offer stimulating, rich theological reflections on the Scriptures and inspiring real-life ministry implementation. Pick and choose which sessions you want to attend, or stay for the entire conference at a significant savings!
Register now at: https://perkins-oep-smu.nbsstore.net/2023-fall-convocation