2020 News and Events

Southern Methodist University (SMU) has received a $999,975 grant to support Perkins School of Theology’s Testimony as Community Engagement program.

The Perkins School of Theology Alumni/ae Council has selected the Rev. Donald W. Underwood and the Rev. Dr. Sidney G. Hall, III as recipients the 2020 Perkins Distinguished Alumnus/a Award.

Like many other annual events, the Perkins Advent Worship service will go virtual this year.

Perkins School of Theology, in partnership with Life in the Trinity Ministry (LTM), will offer an online Enneagram workshop on December 3-4, 2020, led by instructor Billy Schewee.

Registration is now open for the 2021 Perkins School of Youth Ministry (PSYM), January 11-14, 2021, a four-day educational gathering for youth ministers. In past years, the event is held on the campus of SMU and at Highland Park United Methodist Church, but this year’s event will take place virtually.

Dr. Alyce McKenzie will host a conversation, “Equity in Religion,” with Sister Helen Prejean on October 27 at 11 a.m. as part of the bigBANG! 2020 conference.

Nominations are now open for the 2021 Perkins School of Theology Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award and will be accepted through December 1, 2020.

Replacing the traditional “Inside Perkins” events held on campus in past years, Perkins School of Theology’s Office of Enrollment Management (OEM) is offering a series of virtual gatherings designed to allow you to safely Connect, Discern and Explore our community as you consider your theological educational future.

Author Tod Bolsinger of Fuller Theological Seminary and Grammy-award winning gospel music icon Kirk Franklin will headline the annual Perkins School of Theology Fall Convocation, “Leading into Change,” which will take place online Nov. 15-16, 2020.

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,” to be presented virtually on Monday, September 21 at 7 p.m.

El Dr. Luis Pedraja, presidente de Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) en Worcester, Massachusetts, expondrá la Conferencia Barton 2020, "Viviendo en los Márgenes: Teología y Educación en la Nueva Década", que se presentará virtualmente el lunes, 21 de septiembre a las 7 p.m.

Four Perkins faculty members will take part in an online panel discussion, “Hope, Justice, and the Pandemic: A Theological Conversation,” on Wednesday, August 19 at 4 p.m. Central time.

Southern Methodist University will host an All-University Commencement Convocation on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 8 a.m. in the Gerald J. Ford Stadium. The two-hour ceremony, originally scheduled for May but postponed because of SMU's campus closure due to COVID-19, will honor 2020 graduates and candidates from all of SMU’s schools and professional programs.

The Lilly Endowment-funded initiative at Perkins School of Theology, “Reboot: The Congregation as Youth Worker,” has selected 10 congregations for the program’s second phase of developing innovative congregational youth ministry.

Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University is accepting nominations for its 2020 Distinguished Alumnus/a Award. The deadline to submit is Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Perkins School of Theology at SMU is distributing $155,000 to United Methodist Annual Conferences and other ministry partners during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to an emergency grant from The Henry Luce Foundation.

A Southern Methodist University-based coalition is calling the Dallas community to a day of prayer for healing from social injustice, racism, racial profiling and stereotyping on Sunday, June 28.

Dr. Natalia Marandiuc, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at Perkins School of Theology, has been selected to participate in the New Visions in Theological Anthropology (NViTA) Templeton Grant as a recipient of a Fellowship in Science-Engaged Theology.

Christians have always assembled with Jesus’s assurance that “where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20). But as churches begin re-opening for worship, many wonder about the best ways to do so safely.

Perkins School of Theology offers the Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree as a secondary master’s program for persons desiring advanced study to enhance their ministries or further education.

Learn about hybrid graduate theological education through SMU Perkins School of Theology during a special, online information session, “The Houston-Galveston Virtual Experience” set for Thursday, May 7 at 10 a.m. CST.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 summer session of Perkins School of Theology’s Course of Study School will be taught online. The first summer session runs July 6 – July 24; the second session is July 27 – August 14. Deadline for applications is May 15.

En respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19, la sesión de verano 2020 de la Escuela de Curso de Estudio de la Escuela de Teología de Perkins se impartirá en línea. La primera sesión de verano se realizará del 6 al 24 de julio; la segunda sesión será del 27 de julio al 14 de agosto. La fecha límite para las inscripciones es el 15 de mayo.

Perkins School of Theology announces a new course designed to equip church leaders in emerging digital ministries for planning worship, preaching, teaching, pastoral care and other congregational leadership needs. The fully online course will launch in fall 2020.

Perkins School of Theology, with the Master of Sacred Music faculty and Union Coffee, invites prospective students to join us on Thursday, April 2, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., for an evening of theology and music—from familiar hymns to contemporary Christian—at the White Rock Ale House, 7331 Gaston Ave., Suite 100, Dallas 75214.

A sold-out colloquium on “Spiritual & Religious Abuse: Recognizing, Preventing, and Healing” will take place on Saturday, April 4 on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

Perkins School of Theology and Cox School of Business announce the creation of cooperative, sequenced degree programs between the two Southern Methodist University graduate schools.

Eboo Patel is the featured speaker for the 2020 Walter B. and Kay W. Shurden Lectures on Religious Liberty and Separation of Church and State, which take place March 5 on the campus of SMU. The event is hosted by the Baptist House of Studies at Perkins School of Theology at SMU and co-sponsored by BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty).

Perkins School of Theology is honored to announce Mary White as the recipient of the 2020 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award. She will be recognized at an award ceremony on Thursday, March 26, 2020, 5:00 p.m., during the opening worship service in Perkins Chapel for the three-day Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning.

Are you discerning your call to ministry? Are you considering graduate theological education? Join us as we explore the possibilities of a life-changing experience at Perkins School of Theology during “Inside Perkins” on Friday, Feb. 14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Registration is now open for the Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning – formerly the Perkins Theological School for the Laity – which takes place March 26-28 on the Perkins campus at SMU. With the theme “Boundless Learning, Bountiful Living,” the program offers multiple course options and is open to laity as well as clergy.

Perkins School of Theology will host a short conference, “In the Face of Barbarism: Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Culture, Humanity and the Importance of Ordinary Life,” February 13-14, 2020, at the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas.