Category: Perspective Online

The fall semester is underway, autumn is upon us and it’s an exciting time to be at Perkins! Our enrollment has increased for the second year in a row—up 14.1% from 2017—the campus is abuzz with energetic students, faculty and staff and our programs are impacting Christian leaders around the world. Indeed, Perkins is living out the vision of being “an academy for the whole church in the whole world.”

Join me for a comprehensive Perkins update via the video below. And as always, thank you for your support of Perkins School of Theology!

Yours,
Craig C. Hill
Dean, Perkins School of Theology

When you think of the Development Office, you probably think “fundraising,” which is certainly a big part of what we do. Our role is to raise endowment, capital, and annual gifts for the benefit of Perkins School of Theology. We are pleased to have a wonderful group of regular donors and invite all to join in this important effort.

But it’s not just about money. We also believe that Perkins will have its biggest impact when we help to clearly communicate the school’s purpose and actively involve our constituents in achieving those goals. We continually seek meaningful ways for alumni and friends to help Perkins fulfill its mission.

With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to the people in the Development Office who serve the entire Perkins community, working closely with Dean Hill, Business Manager Mark Greim, and the other Senior Administrators at Perkins.

I am in my fifth year as Director of Development for Perkins School of Theology. I have had a career in higher education on both the College and Seminary levels. Having served on the Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners of the Association of Theological Schools, I am acutely aware of the stresses faced by schools of theology. Since I began my career in higher education as a professor, I can identify with the desires of faculty members to have necessary resources.

Working with me, as Advancement Associate, is Mrs. Christina Rhodes. Christina joined the team a year ago and brings outstanding writing, editing, and organizational skills and abilities to the tasks of the office. Christina is a graduate of Texas Tech University and has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Christina and I are here to serve the Perkins community. The Perkins development mission statement is:

To maximize charitable giving to Perkins School of Theology through:
Personal visits to represent the vision of the School;
Electronic and telephone contacts;
Endowment reporting;
Thanking present and past donors;
Partnering with administration, faculty members, the Perkins Executive Board, and other SMU development officers on plans and funding needs;
Careful recording of contacts and gifts;
Keeping information in the strictest confidence.

This will be done in an open and transparent way with each donor’s benefit as the foundation of what we do. We will treat each donor with care and respect, regardless of the size or scope of the gift.

We look forward to interacting with many as we continue to serve as the conduit supplying Perkins with resources to accomplish our important educational task.

With a thankful heart,

John A. Martin
Director of Development
214-768-2026

We are excited to announce that for the second year in a row, enrollment at Perkins has increased significantly!  In fall 2018, Perkins experienced a 14.1% increase over the previous year—building on 2017 totals, when the increase was more than 40% over 2016.  This is an exciting time to be at Perkins!

Who are we?  Perkins School of Theology is a vibrant, welcoming community of students, faculty and staff who are called to Christian service. We are diverse, we are international, we are committed to empowering servant leaders as they prepare for traditional, non-traditional and entrepreneurial ministries.  The mission of the Office of Enrollment Management team is to engage and recruit prospective students, shepherding them each step through enrollment, whether on our Dallas campus or as part of our new hybrid Houston-Galveston Extension Program.

Do you know a prospective student who is considering graduate theological education?  Refer someone here or alert them to on-site information events this fall through Inside Perkins.

Explore the infographic snapshot below and learn more about who we are in fall 2018!

Yours,
Margot Perez-Greene
Associate Dean for Enrollment Management
Perkins School of Theology – SMU

Click to enlarge

By Mary Jacobs

At the border, you’ll find stories of heartbreak, horror, and occasionally, hope. You’ll meet real heroes, and a few villains, but mostly people who are caught between bigger forces and just trying to survive.

What you won’t find are simple solutions.

“The complexities of border life are real, often gut-wrenching, and will not easily be solved,” said Becky David Hensley, a Perkins alum.

That’s Hensley’s takeaway from an immersion trip to McAllen, Texas as part of Perkins’ McAllen and the Borderlands: Understanding the Church’s Mission, Ministry, and Social Responsibility. She was one of 10 participants — five students, three alumni and two faculty — who made the 7-day trip in July.

“It was designed to expose our students and others to the realities of the border,” said program leader Hugo Magallanes, who is Associate Professor of Christianity and Cultures at Perkins. “We wanted them to hear all sides of the story and to capture firsthand the stories of persons impacted by immigration laws and rules.”

The trip was sponsored by Perkins’ Global Theological Education and the Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions. Participants toured and served at Catholic and Methodist missions like Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center; Proyecto Azteca, a housing initiative; and La Posada Providencia, a residential refugee center. The itinerary also included worship at local churches and opportunities to talk with U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staff, and experts in human trafficking and immigration. Participants also had the chance to talk one-on-one with those awaiting processing to enter the U.S.

“Their stories were very different from what you hear in the media,” said Isabel Docampo, Director, Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions. “We heard these detailed, particular stories of desperation from people who did not desire to leave but felt they had no option.”

She met women running away from violent domestic partners; mothers with children they feared might be raped or conscripted by gangs; and a young woman from Honduras who’d been separated from her 5-year-old son for five months by U.S. immigration.

“As a mother, the thought that I wouldn’t know where my child was for months, it’s just the most inhumane thing,” Docampo said.

Kurt Maerschel, a third year M.Div. student and a participant on the trip, is an immigrant himself from Germany. His transition came with challenges, but those paled in comparison to what he saw at the U.S.-Mexico border: people who were tired, confused, exhausted, frightened, and utterly dependent on ministries like Catholic Charities for help.

“I met a lot of people at the border who are welcoming the stranger,” he said. “It opened my eyes to look for the ‘strangers’ in my own community. It will stay with me for a long time.”

The group also had a chance to cross into Mexico with Guillermo “Willie” Berman Ramirez, a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) of the United Methodist Church, to visit an orphanage in Nuevo Progresso and a clinic in Rio Bravo.

“There are big, expensive homes in Rio Bravo which are mostly empty now because the gang violence is so bad,” said Jane Elder, a Perkins student and reference librarian at Bridwell.

“You realize that people are doing exactly what you and I would do, which is fleeing to a safer situation.”

One human trafficking expert told the group that trafficking in human organs is eclipsing human trafficking near the border. Medical personnel are advised not to wear scrubs in public areas, for fear they may be kidnapped and forced to harvest organs.

“The reality is so much worse than anything you read,” Elder said.

There were also moments of human connection. Hensley recalled a visit to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center, where she had the chance to read to a group of children, ages five to 11.

“For several hours we laughed and fumbled our way through children’s stories and coloring books,” she said. “It was easy for a moment to forget what awful circumstances must have led them here – what horrors they must’ve endured on the journey. For a moment, they were just kids.”

Moments like that are important in understanding the border as well as in preparing for ministry anywhere, said Susan Hellums, Border Area Mission Coordinator for the Rio Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, who helped shepherd the group.

“Trust and relationships are important in any ministry and in our Christian walk,” she said. “The only way to develop those relationships is to spend time with each other, listening and talking and sharing.”

The group also had the chance to dialogue with Border Patrol agents, including one who attends a United Methodist church. Agents double as law enforcement as well as emergency medical technicians. In many cases, the people they pick up at the border go straight to the emergency room; some are dead or dying. Even those in enforcement are caught up in forces out of their control, according to Docampo.

“The Border Patrol is the biggest employer in the area,” she said. “They’re just trying to do their jobs, with laws that are changing constantly. There are so many institutional and structural systems that have to change.”

“You have all these people in the grip of these gigantic forces: cartels, gangs, violence, exploitation, drugs, trafficking, government policies and local, state and federal law enforcement,” Elder said. “Often they have to trade one untenable situation for another. It’s a real mess that will break anyone’s heart.”

Docampo added that another goal of the program is to help participants, as future church leaders, to search for the best Christian witness as the U.S. struggles to find a workable immigration policy.

“Christian leaders are in the public square and can add a voice to the public conversation,” she said. “It is a responsibility that we can’t walk away from.”

Mary Jacobs, former staff writer for The United Methodist Reporter and the Dallas Morning News, is a freelance writer in Dallas.

By Sam Hodges

The Rev. Judy Swarts has done youth and children’s ministry in United Methodist churches for years, but this summer marked her first appointment to lead a church as pastor.

She was OK with being away from First United Methodist in Menard, in west Texas, for a week to take Course of Study classes at Perkins.

But if it had been two weeks ….

“There would have been a disconnect with the congregation,” she said.

Thanks to a new hybrid approach, combining in-class and online instruction, Perkins is offering licensed local pastors a more flexible, affordable approach to completing the Course of Study required by the United Methodist Church.

A summer ago, Swarts would have had to spend two weeks per session on campus. This time, she and other students spent a week in class followed by two weeks of online instruction. Those who did both sessions repeated the schedule.

Swarts was able to return more quickly to Menard, where she dug into her new job while also studying at home online.

“Especially being in a new congregation, I liked being able to come back,” she said.

Course of Study is the first Perkins program to go hybrid – the Houston/Galveston extension program has begun this term – and a large enrollment jump accompanied the change.

Last year, there were 83 students for both the English and Spanish language sections. This summer enrollment was 103.

“Even more significantly, our enrollment in Spanish was just 14 last year, and this year it was 24. So the percentage of increase was even greater among Spanish-speaking students,” said the Rev. Dr. Paul Barton, who directs the program.

Before, students spent 20 hours in class for each course. Now it’s 10 hours in class and 10 hours online, with most of the online time allowing for flexible scheduling for students. (If they need to listen to a lecture, for example, it will be taped and they choose when to view it.)

The cost advantage comes primarily for students who travel to study at Perkins and must pay for room and board either on or off campus.

“We were missing students because they couldn’t afford it,” Barton said.

Even for local students, the hybrid approach proved appealing in its flexibility.

“I had never done online courses before and I was excited to know that I could be a mom, be a pastor and still get an affordable education from Perkins,” said the Rev. Jamie Nelson, pastor at Agape Memorial United Methodist Church in Dallas.

The transition to hybrid was not without its challenges and tradeoffs.

A third of the faculty didn’t return, some of that owing to instructors who didn’t want to teach online. For those who did, and for newcomers, Barton required taking a course in online teaching offered by SMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence.

There also was special instruction in Canvas, the online learning management system used by the program. And a $17,000 grant from the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (for which Perkins runs the Course of Study program) allowed six faculty members and one Perkins student to serve as consultants for COSS faculty.

Students got training and ongoing technical support, too.

“I was afraid that the transition and technology would be particularly difficult for our older students,” said Dr. Lindsey Trozzo of Princeton Theological Seminary, who taught Bible II and Bible III in Course of Study at Perkins this summer. “That was the case, but there were many resources for training. Those who sought them out found it to be much more intuitive than they at first thought.”

Barton credits James Pan, academic technology services director for Perkins and SMU’s Dedman School of Law, with easing the transition for faculty and students.

“He’s provided wonderful expertise and support,” Barton said.

Trozzo is experienced in online instruction, but she acknowledged missing having more time in person with students. Her conversational approach to teaching lends itself to the classroom.

As for students, she said online education requires them to exert self-discipline to get to the computer and complete assignments – a challenge for those living busy work and family lives.

But Trozzo also saw the advantages of hybrid for those serving a church.

“Even during the one week of in-person classes, I had two students who had to miss a day to go back and do a funeral,” Trozzo said. “When we are working with pastors who are the single staff member at a church – sometimes multiple churches – it’s really tough for them to be gone two to four weeks at a time.”

The Rev. David Danilo Diaz Rivas returned from his country of Colombia to continue taking Course of Study classes at Perkins this summer.

He, like Trozzo, had experience with online education – and he’s aware of the pros and cons. But Rivas, a pastor with the Colombian Methodist Church, also sees the potential.

“Perkins …. is on the path to offering quality education and easy access, transcending barriers and bringing knowledge to many pastors in different countries,” Rivas said.

Sam Hodges is a Dallas-based reporter for United Methodist News Service and a freelance writer.

Getting around on campus is a little more challenging these days as construction continues on the Perkins campus and nearby buildings. If you’re planning a visit to Perkins this fall, allow a little extra time to park. Look for detailed parking instructions in the invitation for any major scheduled events.

Here’s an update on what’s going on:

The Hillcrest Parking Center construction project, which encompasses the area along Hillcrest Road between Moore Hall and Martin Hall, is underway and scheduled for completion in December 15, 2019. The demolition of Hawk Hall began September 24. The construction zone is surrounded by a fence but there is a pathway for access to Moore Hall and Martin Hall.

The Perkins Chapel refurbishment began in early September and will continue through the end of November. This first phase will repair damage to the ceiling and walls (caused by a steam leak in January) and include new pew cushions and kneelers. The second phase of the plan, to begin in late summer 2019, will refinish the floors of the nave, chancel, gallery, and stairs, and refurbish the pews. A new sound system will also be installed. Phase two is to be completed in the fall of 2019.

When he was 15, Christian S. Watkins’ family transferred from another congregation to St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church in Dallas, then under the pastorage of the Rev. Dr. Zan W. Holmes, Jr. It was a transformative moment in his life.

“My family just needed a place to grow and St. Luke was that place,” Watkins said. “Zan’s love for the people and for the word were inspiring.”

It just seemed natural, when it came time for graduate school, to follow in Holmes’ footsteps and chose Perkins School of Theology. Watkins, 35, is now in his fourth and final year in the Master of Divinity program, with a concentration in urban ministry, and pursuing a Deacon’s order in the North Texas Conference.

“Zan Holmes had the theological acumen and the growth that happens here, and I wanted it to be a part of me, too,” he said. “It’s been refreshing to see the diversity and the richness of voices here at Perkins, not just for my theological development but also from a social standpoint. It’s good to have voices that are not like mine.”

On top of his studies, Watkins works for justice through a number of projects on campus and beyond. He’s been leading efforts to pursue the initiation of a Citizen Police Review Board in the city of Dallas, served on the Justice in Action Committee of the Perkins Student Association, and with Faith in Texas, a multi-racial, interfaith movement for economic and racial justice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Currently, he’s interning with the Zip Code Connection, a North Texas Conference initiative that seeks to bring economic opportunity and community wholeness to 75215, the zip code located in the South Dallas and Fair Park neighborhoods.

The decision to enter ministry followed ten years of what Watkins calls “flailing” in the corporate world. Now, his path feels certain.

“I want to work for the elevation of minorities in the light of God,” he said. “The prophet Micah (6:8) reminds us of our duty to God and community — making justice happen, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. That’s what I aspire to do every day.”