Amarillo Lay School of Theology 2013

The Amarillo Lay School of Theology is sponsored by SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. The school meets each year on Palm Sunday weekend, offering an opportunity for laity and others to explore issues of spirituality, theology, religion and church leadership with faculty and leaders from Perkins.

Schedule and topics are subject to change.

Program Schedule

Courses

Choose from one of the following two courses. Each will consist of approximately eight hours of lecture and discussion on Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon. Although this is intended to be a two-day event, in order to accommodate those unable to attend both days, we now offer the options of attending your chosen course on Friday only, Saturday only, or the full course.

Grace under Pressure: Negotiating the Heart of Christianity via the Methodist Traditions

Joerg Rieger

Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology

Christianity is not primarily about religion or morality. It is about grace under pressure. Within Christianity, the Methodist traditions have embodied the insight that God’s grace is more authentically experienced in the midst of the pressures of life than on the mountaintops. Examples will be drawn from contemporary discussions of empire and economics.

Suggested Reading: Grace under Pressure: Negotiating the Heart of the

Methodist Traditions by Joerg Rieger

Joerg Rieger is an author and public scholar. He holds a Ph.D., Duke University, 1994; Th.M., Duke Divinity School, 1990; M.Div., Theologisches Seminar der Evangelisch-Methodistischen Kirche, Reutlingen, Germany, 1989. His teaching specialties include systematic theology, constructive theology, historical and contemporary theologies, liberation theologies, and theology and religion in their social contexts. His research interest are historical theologies, liberation theologies, Methodist theology, theology and cultural studies, theology and economics, theology and class, theology and empire, postcolonial and postmodern theories and theology. Among his publications are No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics, and the Future; and Beyond the Spirit of Empire: New Perspectives in Politics and Religion.





The Gospel of Mark: Constructing Character in Troubled Times

Abraham Smith

Professor of New TestamentT

he Gospel of Mark has characters (dramatic actors) and it also builds character (essential values for living). This course will examine how Mark builds the latter through the former. The course will examine: 1) Mark’s overall plot; 2) Mark’s negative characterization of the disciples; 3) Mark’s positive characterization of Jesus and the “little people”; and 4) Mark’s rhetorical goals, including that of building the character of its readers and auditors as they faced the pressures of tyranny in the late sixties and early seventies of the first century CE.

Suggested Readings: Sowing the Gospel: Mark’s World in Literary-Historical Perspective by Mary Ann Tolbert; Brendan Byrne, A Costly Freedom: A Theological Reading of Mark’s Gospel by Brendan Byrne; read the Gospel of Mark in one sitting and bring to the course a copy of the Gospel, preferably the NRSV.

Before joining the faculty of Perkins School of Theology in 2002, Abraham Smith taught New Testament at Andover Newton Theological School for four years, Boston University School of Theology for eight years, and the Interdenominational Theological Center for three years. He is an enthusiastic and engaged teacher of New Testament. Among his recent publications are several introductions and annotations for the Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd edition (2001) and the Oxford Access Bible (2000), “Commentaries and Reflections on First and Second Thessalonians” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary (2000), a book on 1 Thessalonians (titled Comfort One Another, 1995), and numerous articles on the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, the Book of Acts, and African American Biblical Hermeneutics. An ordained minister of the National Baptist Church USA Inc., Smith served as a pastor for ten years. He was awarded his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.

PRICING

Registration includes your choice of one course with the options of attending Friday only, Saturday only or the full course. Refreshments and a Saturday buffet lunch are included for those attending on Saturday. Advanced registration will be accepted through March 15.

Continuing Education Unit (.77) credit will be provided for a $20 fee for those attending

the full course.

Scholarships are available upon request by filling out a registration form at the church office. The Amarillo Lay School is made possible in part by SMU’s Howard-Holbert Endowment.

REGISTER BY THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Advanced Registration will close March 15.

1. Online Registration.

2. Download a registration form and follow directions for submitting your form.

3. Call 214.768.2251.

4. At the door.

CANCELLATION POLICY

We understand that sometimes participants need to cancel. Refunds will be granted for cancellations received in writing or by email no less than seven days prior to the event less a $25 processing fee. Refund requests can be sent to:M

SMU Perkins School of Theology

Advanced Ministerial Studies

PO Box 750133

Dallas, TX 75275-0133

or AdvanceMinistry@smu.edu



OUR GUARANTEE

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the program, Perkins will gladly transfer your registration fee to another continuing education event of your choice. We ask that you notify us of your request within 24 hours of close of event.