CONWAY, Ark. (December 11,
2017) – The Marshall T. Steel Center will honor three extraordinary church and
community leaders at the 33rd Annual Steel-Hendrix Awards banquet on Monday,
March 12, 2018, at 5:30 p.m. in the Student life and Technology Center’s
Worsham Performance Hall North.
The banquet and lecture are
sponsored by the Marshall T. Steel Center for the Study of Religion and
Philosophy and the Office of the Chaplain. Tickets for the banquet cost $25 and
are available through March 2, 2018. For
more information or to purchase banquet tickets, visit www.hendrix.edu/steelhendrixbanquet.
The annual Willson Lecture follows
the banquet, and is free and open to the public. This year’s guest lecturer is
Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, who is the Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School
of Theology. An ordained Itinerant Elder, she is the fourteenth
Historiographer, Editor of the A.M.E.
Review and is the Executive Director of Research and Scholarship for the
African Methodist Episcopal Church. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious and
Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver,
with an emphasis in Religion and Social Transformation. Her Master of Divinity
degree is from Iliff School of Theology, and she also holds a Master of Science
degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from
the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri. She is the author
of five books, including Delivering the
Sermon: Voice, Body and Animation in Proclamation (Fortress Press, 2008), and
of numerous articles and chapters in edited publications.
The Willson Lecture will take
place in the context of a worship service at 7 p.m. in Worsham Hall South.
While visiting Hendrix, Fry Brown
also will lead a preaching workshop on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. in Worsham Hall North.
The 2018 Steel-Hendrix Award
honorees include:
Rev.
Ronnie Miller-Yow — The Mary and Ira Brumley award for Religious
Education
A native of Dallas, Texas,
the Rev. Ronnie Miller-Yow serves as senior pastor at Little Rock’s Wesley
Chapel and Duncan United Methodist Churches. In addition, he is Chaplain and
Dean of Religious Life and Campus Culture at Philander Smith College, located
next to Wesley Chapel. Educated at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,
Yow began his career teaching elementary school, but discerned the calling to preach
the Gospel and began teaching a different audience. He earned his Master of
Divinity degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist
University. Membership at Wesley Chapel has grown considerably since Yow
arrived, with Philander Smith students taking active roles in leadership and
participation. In 2015, Yow became director of the newly-established South
Little Rock Teaching Parish, under which Wesley Chapel, Duncan, and White
Memorial UMCs work with Philander Smith College to provide mentoring and
practical experience opportunities for young people considering a call to
ministry.
Rev.
Maxine Allen — The Ethel K. Millar Award of Religion and
Social Awareness
The Rev. Maxine Allen is the
Arkansas Conference UMC’s Associate Director of Ministries for Mission Field
Engagement. The first African-American woman to be ordained Elder in the United
Methodist Church in Arkansas, she has worked extensively for social justice in
her local community and globally for women, children, and the poor. She holds a
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion from Philander Smith College, and a
Master of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center’s Gammon
Seminary, where in 2008 she was named Alumna of the Year. Her social advocacy
spans five decades, beginning with “Sing Out America,” a performance group that
contained youth of all cultures at a time when interracial groups remained
prohibited in many places. She was a founding member of the Sojourner Truth
Players, a Black community theater group in Fort Worth, Texas. Moving home to
Arkansas, Allen became one of the first on-air personalities at KABF Community
Radio, providing children’s and public affairs programming. She was
instrumental in founding the first battered women’s shelter in Arkansas (now Women
and Children First) and helped to successfully lobby the legislature to adopt
stronger domestic violence laws. She served as founding executive director of
Second Genesis, a transitional home for women coming from prison. She now
serves on the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission; the
Arkansas Women’s Project Leadership Team; is the first woman to serve as President
of the Little Rock Christian Ministerial Alliance; and is a member of the
Gammon Seminary Board of Trustees. Within the UMC, she chaired the first
Commission on the Status and Role of Women in Arkansas and the Commission on
Religion and Race; served as campus minister at UA Little Rock and Dean of the
Chapel at Philander Smith College; and as statewide disaster response coordinator.
Amy
Bennett Shores — Hendrix College Youth Minister of the Year
Amy Bennett Shores grew up
in Haughton, Louisiana. She attended Louisiana College in Pineville, where she
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, and went on to New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary, earning a Master of Divinity. After working in
college and youth ministry in Louisiana and Georgia, Amy moved to Arkansas to
be closer to family, and spent a few years working as the Associate Director
for Habitat for Humanity of Saline County. She now serves as the Minister of
Youth and Young Adults at Asbury UMC in Little Rock. In addition to serving at
Asbury, Amy is a volunteer for Ozark Mission Project, and serves on the
Arkansas Conference Council on Youth Ministries Adult Resource Team, the Junior
and Senior High Assembly Task Force, and the Hendrix Youth Institute Advisory
Board.
About
Steel-Hendrix
In 1984, Hendrix College
inaugurated the annual Steel-Hendrix Award Lectureship to celebrate 100 years
of its official relationship with the United Methodist Church. The award was
named in honor of Marshall T. Steel, a prominent minister and former president
of the college.
About
the Willson Lectures
The Willson Lectures were
established at Hendrix in 1956 for the purpose of bringing outstanding speakers
to discuss spiritual values, sound family relations and vital issues
confronting the world today. The Willson Lectures were made possible through
the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Jim Willson. They have established lectureships
at 23 United Methodist colleges nationwide.
About
Hendrix College
A private liberal arts
college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as
one of the country’s leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That
Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and
rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been
affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.