Christmas Worship Services: 4 and 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1
“Reconciling the World through Christ” is the theme for this year’s annual Perkins event, with services planned for 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. in Perkins Chapel.
For more than 50 years, choirs from Perkins School of Theology and Meadows School of the Arts have performed Christmas worship services at SMU. This year’s service features current students who participate in the Seminary Singers as well as Seminary Singers alumni/ae who have returned for Dr. C. Michael Hawn’s final service before his retirement in May 2017. Dr. Hawn, the University Distinguished Professor of Church Music at SMU, has been a professor at Perkins School of Theology for 25 years and has been the director of the school’s Sacred Music Program for 12 years.
In addition to incorporating a variety of anthems from the classical repertoire, Dr. Hawn has included music from the world Christian church and student compositions. This year, current students Isabella Ellis (M.S.M. 1) and Richard Walsh (M.S.M. 2) have contributed compositions. Dr. Christopher Anderson, Associate Professor of Sacred Music at Perkins, will serve as organist.
Also participating in the service as readers are: Dr. Craig C. Hill, Dean of Perkins School of Theology; Dr. Evelyn L. Parker, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Perkins and the Susanna Wesley Centennial Professor of Practical Theology; and Dr. Marjorie Procter-Smith, Le Van Professor Emerita of Preaching and Worship. Rev. John Thornburg, the Texas Methodist Foundation Area Representative for the North Texas Annual Conference, has composed narration to develop the theme for this service from within the context of the biblical story.
A live webcast of the 4 p.m. service will be available at http://www.smu.edu/perkins/ChristmasService.
Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Pastoral Music as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.