Theology Matters

As Hispanic Heritage Month begins, Perkins has particular reasons to celebrate. This fall we welcomed a new cohort of 20 students into our Spanish-language Master of Divinity program. They bring with them rich experiences of ministry, community, culture, and faith, and their presence strengthens the theological conversation we share at Perkins. Theology is never practiced in the abstract. It is always spoken in particular languages, shaped by particular communities, and tested in the realities of human life.
 
That conviction is also behind this month’s Perspective theme: “Theology Matters.” The questions shaping our world are moral, spiritual, and deeply human questions (whether they are named that way or not). They are questions about what we owe one another, how we use power, what makes a life meaningful, where hope comes from, and how communities flourish. These are deeply theological questions, and Perkins has a long legacy of addressing them in our teaching and research.
 
This month, Perkins will launch a new podcast, Theology Matters. Its first episode, “Why Theology Matters in a Changing World,” introduces a broader effort to bring the scholarship of our faculty into public conversation and to deepen Perkins’ engagement with the questions facing the Church and society. Good theology does not provide easy answers to complicated problems. It does, however, help us ask better questions, examine our assumptions, and imagine more faithful possibilities. We will be cycling through all of our faculty (and some alumni as well!) month by month as we develop this podcast.
 
Those conversations will continue at the Perkins Fall Summit, September 25–26 at Klein United Methodist Church in Spring, Texas. The Summit offers another opportunity to take theological learning beyond our classrooms and into direct conversation with congregations, lay leaders, clergy, and communities.
 
I also hope many of you will join us on campus September 30 and October 1 as we celebrate the installations of three distinguished Perkins faculty members: Fred Aquino (Lehman Chair of Christian Doctrine), Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner (Susanna Wesley Centennial Chair of Practical Theology), and Karen Baker-Fletcher (Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology) into their respective endowed chairs and professorships. The two-day celebration will include lectures by Fred and Karen, a service of installation in Perkins Chapel with Jeanne preaching, and opportunities to gather together in Kirby Commons to celebrate. All three of these scholars represent the theological leadership we value at Perkins and that we will highlight in the new monthly podcast.
 
Theology matters because the world matters—and because how we understand God, one another, and our common life shapes how we live within it. I am grateful that Perkins continues to be a place where those questions can be pursued with rigor, imagination, and hope.