William B. Lawrence became the new dean of Southern Methodist University's
Perkins School of Theology on Aug. 1, 2002.
Bringing more than three decades of experience in local church leadership
and theological scholarship, Lawrence is known throughout The United
Methodist Church for his writing and research in homiletics and the history
and doctrine of The United Methodist Church. His recent work includes
study of the episcopacy and ordination.
Lawrence, 55, was associate dean for development and church relations
at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. He succeeded
Robin W. Lovin, who was named SMU's Cary M. Maguire University Professor
of Ethics in May 2001.
Lawrence earned a bachelor's degree with distinction from Duke University
in 1968, his Master of Divinity cum laude from Union Theological
Seminary in New York in 1971, and his Ph.D. with distinction in homiletics
and historical theology from Drew University in 1984.
After participating in a five-year study of United Methodism and American
Culture, funded by the Lilly Endowment, Lawrence co-edited for Abingdon
Press the volumes Connectionalism: Ecclesiology, Mission and Identity (1997), The
People(s) Called Methodist: Forms and Reforms of Their Life (1998), Doctrines
and Discipline (1999) and Questions for the Twenty-First Century
Church (1999). His book, Sundays in New York: Pulpit Theology
at the Crest of the Protestant Mainstream, 1930-1955, was published
by Scarecrow Press in 1996.
Articles he has written include "The History of Preaching in America" in
the Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience (1988)
and "The Theology of the Ordained Ministry in The United Methodist
Church" in Quarterly Review (Spring 1998). The Lilly Endowment
also funded his research on "The District Superintendency in The
United Methodist Church," which he delivered in June 2000.
Lawrence served as senior minister at Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan
Memorial United Methodist Church, the national church of United Methodism,
from 1998 to 2001, and was a Wesley Distinguished Faculty in the Theology
and Practice of Ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary for 2000-2001.
He taught from 1993 to 1998 at Duke Divinity School where he was the
professor of the practice of Christian ministry and the associate director
of the J.M. Ormond Center for Research, Planning and Development.
Lawrence served from 1990 to 1993 as district superintendent of the Wyoming
Annual (regional) Conference of the United Methodist Church, which is
located in southern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Lawrence
served the previous 21 years as a pastor in United Methodist churches
in New York and Pennsylvania.
Lawrence is currently the chair of the Conference Committee on the Episcopacy
at the Baltimore Washington Annual (regional) Conference of The United
Methodist Church. He has served twice as a delegate to the quadrennial
General Conference of the United Methodist Church. From 1992 to 1996,
he served as director of the church's General Commission on Religion
and Race.
From 1988 to 1993, Lawrence served as a trustee of Pennsylvania's Wyoming
Seminary and in 1990 began a five-year term as trustee of Syracuse University.
In the late 1980s, Lawrence directed communications for the Tioga County
Habitat for Humanity in Owego, New York, and in the mid 1970s, produced
and hosted his own radio programs, "Dimensions of Faith" and "The
Word and Music" in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.