March 3, 2006

Perkins to Present Laity Award
to Allen, Texas, Church Worker

Dallas, Texas – Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology will present its 2006 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award to Dan David Franck of Allen, Texas, at a noontime luncheon Saturday, March 11, at the annual Perkins Theological School for the Laity. The award is given to a layperson in the United States who exhibits exceptional commitment of service to Christ in church, community and the world through faith and action.

Retired from a career in marketing and sales management, Franck is an active member of First United Methodist Church of Allen, Texas. He has worked as a consultant to the North Texas Annual (regional) Conference of The United Methodist Church assisting church congregations with planning and engineering building renovation and construction and performing this work elsewhere in Texas, as well as for churches in Iowa, Minnesota and Georgia. As a fulltime volunteer, he directed the Conference’s extensive renovations and remodeling of its retreat and camping sites – the Prothro Center at Lake Texoma in Pottsboro, Texas, and Bridgeport Camp in Bridgeport, Texas. He is currently assisting with the preparation, design and construction of the Conference’s new $3.4 million Ministry Center and offices north of Dallas.

Additionally, Franck is involved in mission to the Bethlehem Bible College in Israel and has coordinated mission work in Honduras and Cameroon. He has assisted with building efforts including the Conference’s Amigos Days and Katrina emergency shelter construction. He is also active with the Dallas Emmaus Board, overseeing the popular renewal movement designed for improving Christian discipleship as well as the Kairos prison ministry, the Circle 10 Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Allen Chamber of Commerce, and with area outreach and eldercare programs. He and his wife, the Rev. June Franck, live in Allen. They have six children and nine grandchildren.

The luncheon will be conducted in the ballroom of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on the Southern Methodist University campus. The annual program this year features lectures on Christian spirituality and religious literacy, as well as nearly a dozen workshops on topics ranging from “The Gospel of Mark” to “Christian Faith and Scientific Inquiry.”

For more information, visit http://perkins.smu.edu or call 1-888-THEOLOGY, ext. 4.

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Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas with more than 10,000 students and offers degree programs through seven schools. More information about SMU is available at www.smu.edu.