Category: Perspective Online

Perkins’ May 18 Celebration of Degrees and Academic Achievements to be live-streamed at 2 p.m. CST via webcast at hpumconline.org/perkins.

May is a bittersweet season, when we say goodbye to graduates and wish them well in their new beginnings. Perkins School of Theology will honor graduating seniors with a variety of events, culminating on Saturday, May 18, with the University-wide Commencement Convocation and Perkins’ Celebration of Degrees and Academic Achievements.

Eighty-seven students are scheduled to receive their SMU diplomas from Perkins, including 12 December graduates, 71 May graduates and four summer graduates.

The series of graduation events begins with a Sending Forth Service at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8, at Perkins Chapel. Preaching at this service will be Evelyn Parker, associate dean of Academic Affairs and Susanna Wesley Centennial Professor of Practical Theology. At this event, graduating Perkins seniors will be recognized and will receive a blessing; a senior class luncheon will follow at 12:45 p.m. in Kirby Parlor. Families are welcome.

On Friday, May 17, the Senior Class Worship Service will take place in Perkins Chapel at 5 p.m., followed by the Senior Class Banquet at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Graduating seniors attend free of charge.

Graduation Day is Saturday, May 18, with the University-wide Commencement Convocation taking place at 9 a.m. in Moody Coliseum. The event will feature Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of American Airlines, and will be live-streamed at smu.edu/live. Students must obtain tickets for themselves as well as their guests for this event. Details are here. Each candidate may obtain up to four tickets for guests. Seating is limited and is first come, first served. A ticket does not guarantee a seat.

Tickets may be requested beginning Wednesday, May 8, at 9 a.m. at smucommencementtickets.com. Logon by providing your secure SMU logon credentials. Only participating students are eligible to request tickets. Candidates are allotted four tickets for the Commencement Ceremony. All candidates must have an entry ticket to participate in the morning ceremony.

Following the Commencement, there will be a lunch at 11 a.m., a Senior Class Photo at 12:45 p.m. on the steps of Perkins Chapel and a Celebration of Degrees and Academic Achievements at 2 p.m. in the Highland Park UMC sanctuary. Preaching at this program will be Paula Dobbs-Wiggins, a psychiatrist in private practice and adjunct professor of the Practice of Pastoral Care at Perkins School of Theology.

Note that the sanctuary is typically very crowded for this program; doors open at 1 p.m. There is no limit on the number of guests that graduates may invite. Diplomas will be awarded at this event. This program will be live-streamed via webcast at hpumconline.org/perkins.

Immediately following the presentation of diplomas during the Celebration of Degrees and Academic Achievements, a reception for Perkins graduates will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Prothro Hall. The reception is free for graduates and their guests, as well as Perkins faculty, staff and students.

Click here for more information about SMU Commencement. For a map of the SMU campus, visit smu.edu/maps.

As Annual Conferences convene in Texas and nearby states later this month and in June, members of the Perkins community will be in attendance. Perkins faculty, staff and alumni will be participating in the proceedings, reconnecting with Perkins alumni and friends, preaching and reaching out to prospective students.

“Annual Conference” has a dual meaning in the United Methodist Church. Each Annual Conference is a regional organizing body of the church. Once a year, representatives from that region gather for what is also called Annual Conference. It’s a time for fellowship, voting on key issues and ordaining new members of the ministry.

Sending Perkins faculty and staff to the gatherings helps nurture Perkins’ ongoing partnership with the Annual Conferences in theological education. In addition, Perkins hosts display tables and alumni events at many of the Annual Conferences.

“Annual Conferences present an opportunity for us to share what’s new at Perkins and tell our story,” said Dean Craig C. Hill. “At the same time, it gives us a chance to hear the story of each annual conference: to hear about their most dynamic and effective ministries and to understand the kind of leadership needed now and in the future.”

Some plans are still in flux, but here is the current list of Annual Conferences and Perkins community members who plan to attend:

The Texas Annual Conference meets Sunday through Wednesday, May 26-29, at the Hilton Hotel Americas in Houston. Participating from Perkins: Craig Hill, John Martin, Jim Lee and, tentatively, Hugo Magallanes and Dallas Gingles. Stephen Bagby will represent the Office of Enrollment Management.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Tuesday, May 28. View the invitation here..

The Oklahoma Annual Conference meets Tuesday through Thursday, May 28-30, at Oklahoma City University’s Freede Center in Oklahoma City. Attending from Perkins:  Caleb Palmer and Andy Keck.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Wednesday, May 29. View the invitation here.

The Great Plains Annual Conference runs Wednesday through Sunday, May 29 ­­– June 1, at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. From Perkins, Bridget Anderson will attend.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Wednesday, May 29. View the invitation here.

The Arkansas Annual Conference meets Wednesday through Saturday, May 29 – June 1, at Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs, Ark. Craig Hill and John Lowery plan to attend.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Thursday, May 30. View the invitation here.

The North Texas Annual Conference meets Sunday through Tuesday, June 2-4, at Christ UMC in Plano.  Craig Hill, Connie Nelson, John Martin, Jim Lee, Stephen Bagby and Bridget Anderson will attend.

An alumni/ae event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4. View the invitation here.

The Rio Texas Annual Conference runs Wednesday through Saturday, June 5- 8, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Attending from Perkins are Craig Hill, John Martin, Margot Perez-Greene and Jon Herrin.

An alumni/ae event is planned on Wednesday, June 5. View the invitation here.

The Northwest Texas Annual Conference will gather Thursday through Saturday, June 6- 8, at Overton Hotel & Conference Center in Lubbock, Texas. Bridget Oswald Anderson and Bobby Wilson will attend.

An alumni/ae event is scheduled for Thursday, June 6. View the invitation here.

The Oklahoma Indian Missionary Annual Conference meets Thursday through Sunday, June 6-9, in Preston, Okla. Jazmin Cabrera will attend.

An alumni/ae event is scheduled for Friday, June 7. For more information email Bridget Oswald Anderson.

The Missouri Annual Conference runs Friday through Sunday, June 7-9, at Springfield Expo Center in Springfield, Mo. Craig Hill and Peter Norton will attend.

An alumni/ae event is scheduled for Sunday, June 9. View the invitation here.

The Central Texas Annual Conference runs Sunday through Wednesday, June 9-12, at Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, Texas. Craig Hill, John Martin, Andy Keck and John Lowery will attend.

An alumni/ae event is scheduled for  Monday, June 10. Central Texas 2019.

The Louisiana Annual Conference will gather Sunday through Wednesday, June 9-12, at Shreveport Convention Center in Shreveport, La. Attending from Perkins are Craig Hill, Dallas Gingles and Bridget Oswald Anderson.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Tuesday, June 11. View the invitation here.

The New Mexico Annual Conference meets Wednesday through Friday, June 12-14, at Crowne Plaza in Albuquerque, N.M. Craig Hill and Margot Perez-Greene (tentative) will attend, as will Josh Kouri.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Friday, June 14. New Mexico 2019.

The Desert Southwest Annual Conference runs Thursday through Sunday, June 13-16, at Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Ariz.

An alumni/ae event is planned for Thursday, June 13. View the invitation here.

 

For more information on Perkins Annual Conference events please contact Bridget Oswald Anderson, Associate Director of Public Affairs and Alumni/ae Relations at boswald@smu.edu.

Applications will open May 10 for churches interested in participating in the Reboot Youth Ministry Initiative, a program designed to strengthen congregational ministries with youth through programmatic innovation.

The program originated with a five-year, $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to Perkins School of Theology announced in December. Co-directors of the grant are the Bart Patton, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Education, and Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison, Associate Dean, Office of External Programs.

Reboot will select and resource a cohort of congregations within a 300-mile radius of Dallas without a paid full-time youth worker.  Beginning with the application process opening May 10, an initial cohort of 18 congregations—the “Starter Cohort”—will be selected to undergo a discovery process to determine the viability of ministries with youth in their communities and will be introduced to current innovation models for youth ministries.  From this cohort, 12 congregations will be selected as the “Innovation Cohort” to apply for resources provided by the grant to build and sustain an innovative model for congregational ministry with youth.

The final objective is to share the findings, including processes, youth ministry models and stories derived from the cohort congregations and other project participants through public venues including online and print resources, the Perkins School of Youth Ministry, and a Finale Innovation Lab Symposium.

According to Patton, the project’s co-director, the rapidly changing face of youth ministry in both rural and urban congregations was the impetus for this project.

“Youth ministry is at a significant juncture right now,” said the veteran of more than two decades as a youth worker.  “It’s our hope that this new endeavor will provide useful resources to congregations as they navigate ministry with adolescents in their communities.”

Shifting the focus from a full-time paid youth worker to a more comprehensive model in which the entire congregation sees itself as the center of ministry with youth is the key to this innovative project, according to Dr. Pope-Levison.

“The financial and personnel resources that this grant makes possible will lead the way in rebooting youth ministry from the lone ranger approach of the paid youth worker to centering youth ministry as a congregational initiative and endeavor,” she said.

Applications will be available May 10 through July 10, 2019 at smu.edu/perkins/reboot . To be eligible, churches must be within 300 miles of Dallas, must not have a full-time paid youth minister, and be ready to innovate. Churches of all denominations are eligible.

For more information about the initiative, visit the website at smu.edu/perkins/reboot or contact staff at reboot@smu.edu.

Perkins’ Black Seminarians Association hosted the third annual Seven Last Words service on Good Friday, April 19, at Salem Institutional Baptist Church in South Dallas.  Following an African-American tradition, the Good Friday worship was woven around the last utterances of Christ before his death on the cross. Many students, faculty and staff from Perkins were in attendance as well as members of the community.

Seven preachers – all Perkins students or recent alumni – each offered 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.

“In 2016, a few seminarians believed that it was important for black seminarians, who have been called to preach, to be given the opportunity to preach,” said the Rev. Bryant Phelps (D. Min. ’17), pastor of Church of the Disciple in DeSoto. “We figured that if no one was going to invite us into their pulpits, we were going to make a pulpit all by ourselves.”

Phelps helped initiate the event in 2017 as an officer of the BSA while at Perkins.

“And, here we are three years later, still at it,” said Phelps. “Amen!”

The service included somber moments as well as 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 participated as well.

This year’s worship celebration was coordinated by Christian S. Watkins (MDiv, ‘19), 2018-19 BSA President, assisted by LaTasha Roberts (MDiv, ‘20) and Justin Carter (MDiv, ’19.) The inaugural Seven Last Words service in 2017 took place at St. Luke “Community” UMC, and the second at Hamilton Park UMC in Dallas in 2018.  However, this year’s location at Salem Institutional Baptist was chosen “to highlight the fact that the south of Dallas needs attention,” Watkins said. “The venue change was strategic, because of the need for greater ecumenical support by our black non-Methodist seminarians and the recent establishment of Perkins’ Baptist House of Study.”

Worshippers responded to each of the seven preachers enthusiastically and with words of encouragement. The program featured a lively sermon by the Rev. Joyce Brooks (’18 M.Div., and ’20 D.Min. candidate), senior pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Beaumont, Texas, who preached on Jesus’ words to the criminal on an adjacent cross, in Luke 23:43: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

“Even when Jesus was nailed on the cross, God was still in control,” she said. “If we as a crucified people would come together with one kingdom focus, then perhaps we will see salvation today … in the here and now and not just in the great by-and-by.”

The Rev. Enid Henderson, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and executive pastor of Jones Memorial UMC in Houston, reflected on Jesus’ words in Matthew 27:46: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

“At noon, darkness came over the whole land,” she said. “For three hours, darkness filled the sky. For three hours of suffering and darkness … the crowd owned the conversation. They instigated the infliction of pain.”

But during those same hours of suffering and darkness, she said, “The light of the world consumed darkness so you and I could live in the light. Perfection consumed all the imperfections of humanity.”

Others preaching during the service included the Rev. Lisa Bozeman, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and an intern at Hamilton Park UMC; Justin Carter, an expected 2019 M.Div. graduate and intern at Light of the World Church of Christ; the Rev. Sharon Larkin, a D.Min. candidate, expected graduation 2020, and pastor of administration at St. Luke “Community” UMC; the Rev. Dr. Ervin D. Seamster, Jr. (D.Min.), senior pastor at Light of the World Church of Christ; and the Rev. Todd Atkins.

Dean Craig Hill spoke briefly to worshippers at the close of the service.

“What a joy,” said Dean Craig Hill. “It makes everything worthwhile to watch God raise up new people to minister the word. Thanks be to God.”

Watch a video of the service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P5PUH8LTE0

While speaking at Perkins Theological School for the Laity in late March, Adam Hamilton saw “two possible pathways” for centrists and progressives following the special General Conference in February. In one, church members say, “This is our church and we’re not giving it up and we’re going to resist and we’re going to disobey the Discipline.” The other means “creating two new Methodisms out of one existing United Methodism.” Read the perspective from Hamilton and others on the church’s future in this UMNS story.

Congratulations to Cori Clevenger (M.Div., 2020.) Her paper, “John Wesley Hardin: Preacher’s Kid and Convicted Killer,” was selected as the recipient of the Walter Vernon Essay Award for 2019. As winner, Clevenger received a $250 prize and the opportunity to present a summary of the paper to the Annual Meeting of the Texas United Methodist Historical Society. The meeting was held in April at the Central Texas Archives Center in Arlington, at the invitation of the Central Texas Archives and History Commission in Ft. Worth and Arlington.

Hardin (1853-1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. The son of a Methodist preacher, Hardin got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at age 14, he claimed in self-defense. Pursued by lawmen for most of his life, he was sentenced in 1877 at age 24 to 25 years in prison for murder. When he was sentenced, Hardin claimed to have killed 42 men; however, he was well known for wildly exaggerating or completely making up stories about his life.  Within a year of his release in 1894, Hardin was killed by John Selman in an El Paso saloon.

Mark W. Stamm, Professor of Christian Worship at Perkins, was recently interviewed for the podcast Practicing the Presence, a production of Arapaho United Methodist Church in Dallas and hosted by the Rev. Blair Thompson-White (D. Min. 2018, M.Div. 2012), Senior Pastor. The topic was “Bumping Up Against Grace,” about John Wesley’s experience of having his heart “strangely warmed” and the practices that we can use in our daily lives to get close to God. To listen to the podcast, click here.

 

Past Alumni/ae Updates

• April 2019
• March 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018