I mentioned in a recent Perspective article that my wife’s memory is superior to mine. There is one thing I do seem to be good at remembering, however: song lyrics. Play almost any top-20 hit from the 60s or 70s, and the words will probably come right back to me. There are a great many things I would prefer to be good at rather than this, but I suppose you have to be thankful for your gifts, whatever they [...]
Caleb Palmer Ministry Discernment Associate It is impossible to say what the future has in store for higher education. A flurry of speculation and predictions abound on best practices and how to respond to the COVID-19 crisis for the fall 2021 recruitment season. At Perkins, our approach is strategic and centers on demonstrable success. Our aim remains to increase the number of prospects who are a fit for Perkins, ultimately matriculate and graduate so that they can [...]
This fall, Perkins welcomes a fourth cohort of Perkins Scholars. The Perkins Scholar designation is given to students who have distinguished themselves in their undergraduate studies, have demonstrated leadership abilities, and are enrolled in the Master of Divinity program leading toward ordination. Each year’s cohort is made up of ten M.Div. students selected from the entering class. Those students each receive a scholarship totaling up to $21,000, spread over three years, in addition to other scholarship awards they may [...]
Registration opens September 8 for the annual Perkins Fall Convocation, “Leading Into Change,” with author Tod Bolsinger of Fuller Seminary and Grammy-award winning gospel music icon Kirk Franklin. The annual event will take place online on November 15-16, 2020. The convocation usually occurs at Highland Park United Methodist Church and on the campus of SMU. However, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers moved to an online format. Tuition for the Virtual Conference is $75 for the full conference or $15 for Sunday night only. Kirk Franklin will kick off the event [...]
Gerry Hubbs has a favorite Bible passage. But in truth, it’s a three-word mantra that has truly sustained her in her journey at Perkins: “You got this.” “I don’t know who said it, or where I heard it first,” Hubbs said. “But those words meant so much to me. When I came to Perkins, I had been out of school for more than 20 years. I left a good job. It took a lot to make that jump.” Hubbs, 52, has been active in her local United Methodist [...]
Two central concepts of the Christian faith have inspired Karen Baker-Fletcher’s latest theological work: crucifixion and resurrection. She witnessed both in a trip to El Salvador seven years ago, and now they’re part of her next book, Inspired Dust, Resurrected Dust: Womanist Reflections on Resurrection. The seeds were planted on a 2013 Perkins faculty immersion trip to El Salvador, led by Hal Recinos, which included a visit to the chapel where Archbishop Óscar Romero was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass. Group members saw the robe, ridden with bullet holes, in which Romero was killed. Romero’s story, Baker-Fletcher said, is a story of crucifixion. “We [...]
Dr. Luis Pedraja, president of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) in Worcester, Massachusetts, will deliver the 2020 Barton Lecture, “Living in the Margins: Theology and Education in the New Decade,” presented virtually on Monday, September 21 at 7 p.m. To learn more about the lecture and register, visit the website by clicking here. The Roy D. Barton Lectureship was established in 1995 to honor Dr. Barton for his distinguished service to the seminary and to the Hispanic United Methodist Church. The purpose of the Barton Lecture is to disseminate knowledge of [...]
Houston Methodist Hospital, home to Perkins’s Houston-Galveston Extension program, is in the center of the battle against COVID-19. As infections surged in Texas this summer, the hospital has opened one intensive care unit after another for the most critically ill patients, many of whom are Latino. The New York Times has been embedded in the hospital and filed this moving report on the struggle, with video and audio clips from patients, their families and front line medical professionals. “Many of these patients endure cascading tragedies, [...]
Humility. Kindness. Wisdom. Those were a few of the words repeated often at the retirement celebration of Perkins Bishop in Residence D. Max Whitfield, held virtually on August 20. Bishop Whitfield officially retired on August 31 as Bishop in Residence and as Director of the Center for Religious Leadership. Noting that Whitfield launched his career from Perkins – he earned his M.Div. in 1969 -- and now was concluding his career at Perkins, Dean Craig Hill said, “You’re coming [...]
Steven James Wins GCAH Award Steven James June 18, 2016Izamal, Yucatan Steven James (M. Div. ’21) has been named the winner of this year’s John Harrison Ness Memorial Award from the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH). The Commission offers the annual award to M. Div. students in United Methodist seminaries who submit papers on aspects of Methodist history. James’s paper, The Conferences of Missions and Missionary Boards Working in Mexico: The Road to Autonomy, was written [...]
