CONWAY, Ark. (January
15, 2020) — Three annual events that enrich and celebrate leadership in
ministry have been set for March 2 and 3, 2020, at Hendrix College. This year’s
Steel-Hendrix Awards honor three extraordinary church and community leaders,
and the Willson Lecture and John and Marjem Gill Preaching Workshop features a
seminary professor from United Methodist-related Emory University’s Candler
School of Theology.
The Marshall T.
Steel Center for the Study of Religion and Philosophy will hold the 35th Annual
Steel-Hendrix Awards Banquet at 5:30 p.m. in the Student life and Technology
Center’s Worsham Student Performance Hall North. Tickets for the banquet cost
$25 and are available through Monday, Feb. 24. Visit www.hendrix.edu/steelhendrixbanquet for details.
Following the
banquet, Dr. Gregory C. Ellison II of Candler School of Theology, Emory
University, will deliver the annual Willson Lecture as part of a worship
service in Greene Chapel. The service begins at 7 p.m. and is open to the
public.
Ellison holds
degrees from Emory University and Princeton Theological Seminary, where he
received his Master of Divinity degree and Ph.D. in Pastoral Theology. Ten
years after graduating, he returned to Emory to join the faculty of Candler
School of Theology. He is currently an associate professor of pastoral care and
counseling. In his second year of teaching at Candler (2010-2011), he was
awarded Faculty Person of the Year. Three years later, he received the Emory
Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, Emory University’s most prestigious
faculty teaching honor. He is author of Cut
Dead But Still Alive: Caring for African American Young Men and Fearless Dialogues: A New Movement for
Justice. He is an ordained Baptist minister who has served on the ministerial
staffs at both Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
The Steel-Hendrix
Award recipients for 2020 are:
Mable Donaldson – The Mary and Ira Brumley Award for
Religious Education
Mable Donaldson
is a retired public educator with a passion for teaching and spending time with
students. As a teacher and administrator in the Pulaski County Special School
District (16 years) and the Little Rock School District (21 years), her roles
included junior high school science teacher for both districts and supervisor
for Gifted Education Programs for LRSD. She also has served as an adjunct
faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a scholastic
auditor for the Arkansas Department of Education.
Donaldson
received a Bachelor of Science degree from Philander Smith College (where she
has since received a Living Legends Award) and a Master of Education degree and
supervision certification from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her honors
as an educator include an LRSD Superintendent’s Citation; LRAEOP Administrator
of the Year; College Board Southwest Region Award for Advanced Placement;
Arkansas Association Gifted Education Administrator of the Year; and recognition
by Governor Mike Huckabee as an Outstanding Arkansas Educator. In addition, the
Charles W. Donaldson Scholars Academy has recognized her and her husband for
visionary leadership in pipeline program development.
A lifelong
Methodist, her activities in the church have included Sunday school teacher,
financial steward, communion steward, United Methodist Women, pastor parish relations
chair, nurture and membership committee, worship committee, and finance
committee. Presently she serves on the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas
Board of Directors, Arkansas Conference Episcopacy Committee, the Central
District Superintendency Committee, alternate member to the Arkansas Annual
Conference, and scholarship committee member for the Dollars for Scholars Program
at Wesley UMC Little Rock.
Donaldson has served
as president of the Arkansas Association for Gifted Education Administrators
(AAGEA); on the board of directors for Arkansans for Gifted and Talented
Education (AGATE) and Arkansas Association Education Administrators (AAEA); and
as a member of teachers associations for PCSSD and LRSD as well as the Arkansas
Education Association. Donaldson enjoys participating in the Little Rock Chapter
of The Links, Incorporated, which she has done for 16 years. She also serves as
second vice president for the Alpha Mu Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma
International Society.
The Rev. Paul Atkins – The Ethel K. Millar Award for Religion
and Social Awareness
An ordained
deacon serving CanvasCommunity United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Paul
Atkins is the son and grandson of life-long Methodists. He grew up in Little
Rock and Benton and participated in the life of his local church through youth
group, mission trips, and church camp. In college, he studied bassoon
performance at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he met his wife,
Julie. They married in 1998, half-way through his masters in music at the
University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. After two years in New Jersey as a
freelance bassoonist, Atkins returned to Central Arkansas in 2001 to work as a
church music director. When that position ended, he joined his father in the
insurance business while continuing part-time in music ministry and exploring
his call to ordained ministry. While attending Memphis Theological Seminary,
his experience volunteering at a ministry with people experiencing homelessness
knocked him off his intended path back to music ministry. His family (including
daughter Elizabeth, born in 2008) moved to Little Rock to do church differently,
where they connected with CanvasCommunity in 2011.
At Canvas, Atkins
has developed relationships with his friends experiencing homelessness and
tried to find ways to connect them with the rest of Canvas and the wider
church. When his friends go to jail for various reasons, Paul visits them and
has organized a monthly note-writing ministry. He has led Bible studies trying
to draw together people from different backgrounds. This past April, Canvas and
the City of Little Rock piloted a program called Bridge to Work, which offers
people experiencing homelessness the opportunity to work picking up trash
around the city as well as get connected with services to help them get to
their next step. Hundreds have participated in the program and been able to
earn a day’s pay, get identification documents, access to health insurance and
health and job search services, and some have found permanent jobs. Overall,
Paul believes God is calling rich people and poor people to know and care about
each other and to live into God’s web of lovingkindness where all are family.
Virginia Brown – Hendrix College Youth Minister of the
Year
A White County
native, Virginia Brown is the current director of youth ministries at First
United Methodist Church of Beebe, Ark. She has been a United Methodist her
entire life, and graduated from Searcy High School while being an active youth
group member at St. Paul United Methodist Church. St. Paul is also where she
got her start in youth ministry, as an intern straight out of high school.
After interning
for two years in Searcy, Brown began her first part-time youth ministry job at
First United Methodist Church of Pocahontas. To finish her degree in Recreation
and Parks Management, she transferred to Southeast Missouri State University;
while completing her degree, she also interned for two years at Centenary
United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau, Mo. During summers, she worked at
Beartooth Christian Camp in Fishtail, Mont., first as a counselor and then as
the assistant program director. While still in Montana, she accepted the
position at First United Methodist Church of Beebe, where she has now been for
5 ½ years.
For the past year
and a half, Brown also has attended seminary full-time at Memphis Theological
Seminary. Her dreams include becoming an ordained Elder in the United Methodist
Church. She enjoys spending time outdoors, and would like to use her passion
for experiencing God through creation as a way to reach not only young people,
but also entire families.
Preacher as Prophet
In addition to
delivering the Willson Lecture on Monday evening, Ellison will lead the annual
John and Marjem Gill Preaching Workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 3,
on the topic “Preacher as Prophet.” The cost for participants is $35 and
includes lunch in the award-winning Hendrix Dining Hall. For details or to
register, visit www.hendrix.edu/gillworkshop.
About the Steel-Hendrix
Awards
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
are made possible through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Jim Willson, who have
established lectureships at 23 United Methodist colleges nationwide.
About the John
and Marjem Gill Preaching Workshop
The John and
Marjem Gill Preaching Workshop aims to strengthen the United Methodist Church
by enhancing clergy’s ability to proclaim the gospel in ways that are relevant
to the needs of our time, and to enhance dialogue and fellowship among clergy
colleagues. Since 1984, Hendrix has helped facilitate this annual gathering,
providing preachers throughout Arkansas with continuing education and training
toward becoming more effective preachers.
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.