Faculty in the World
April 2026
Dr. Jack Levison — Doctoral Defense at Åbo Akademi University
W. J. A. Power Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew Jack Levison will serve as opponent at a doctoral defense on April 10, 2026, at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. As part of this formal academic tradition, he will participate in the day-long defense and related events, including a ceremonial dinner honoring the doctoral candidate.
Dr. Dallas Gingles
Assistant Dean of Hybrid Education and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program Dallas Gingles will deliver a series of public lectures and preach at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, April 11–12, 2026. Titled “Angels and Demons: The Morality of AI,” the series explores theological and ethical questions surrounding artificial intelligence in contemporary life.
Gingles will present a paper, “The Double Irony of Constitutional Order,” at the Political Theologies of Constitutions, the Rule of Law, and the Common Good conference, held April 22–24, 2026, at the University of Cambridge. His work engages questions at the intersection of theology, law, and political life.
March 2026
Dr. Dallas Gingles
Assistant Dean of Hybrid Education and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program Dallas Gingles presented a paper, “Angels, Demons, AI, and Reciprocity in Healthcare Ethics,” at the Conference on Medicine and Religion, held March 22–24, 2026, in Houston, Texas. His presentation explored ethical questions at the intersection of emerging technologies, theology, and healthcare practice.
Gingles served as an invited panelist at the ASSR/SWCRS conference on March 7, 2026. He joined former Perkins Dean Robin Lovin and Perkins alumna Elisabeth Kincaid for a conversation on contemporary issues in religion and society.
Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison —
Research Professor of Practical Theology Priscilla Pope-Levison will present “The Emergence, Growth and Decline of the International Methodist Deaconess Movement” at the Institute of Historical Research’s Modern Religious History Seminar on March 4, 2026, in London and in hybrid format. The lecture draws on her recent book and examines the global development and legacy of the Methodist deaconess movement.
Dr. Jack Levison and Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison —
W. J. A. Power Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew Jack Levison and Research Professor of Practical Theology Priscilla Pope-Levison will present papers at Developing a Christian Mind: Seeking Wisdom, held March 20, 2026, at New College, Oxford. They will also join the Philosophy & Theology stream alongside Mark Wynn, Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oxford University, and Markus Bockmuehl, Dean Ireland’s Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at Keble College, Oxford, for an interdisciplinary panel on faith and scholarship.
Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison
Research Professor of Practical Theology Priscilla Pope-Levison’s latest book, No Man’s Land: The International Methodist Deaconess Movement, 1874–1918, has been selected as a January Book of the Month by the American Society of Church History. The recognition highlights the book’s significant contribution to the study of global Methodism and women’s religious history.
Pope-Levison was featured in an article on the website of Martha-Maria, a German Methodist hospital in Nuremberg, highlighting her work on the Methodist deaconess movement. During a recent visit to Nuremberg, she presented a signed copy of her book, No Man's Land, to Sister Roswitha Müller, one of the few remaining active deaconesses, and was granted open access to the hospital’s archives, founded in the late nineteenth century by the first generation of German Methodist deaconesses.
February 2026
Dr. Harold J. Recinos —
Professor of Church and Society Harold J. Recinos has released The Bags We Carry, a new poetry collection exploring public culture, belonging, and the human condition. Writing from the margins, the poems invite readers to imagine beyond cultural limits, engage questions of truth and justice, and reflect on the sacred in lived experience. The book was released by Wipf and Stock.
Dr. Susanne Scholz —
Professor of Old Testament Susanne Scholz’s forthcoming book, 1 Samuel: A Conceptual Feminist Interpretation (Fortress Press, November 2025), offers a groundbreaking feminist reading of the biblical text. Praised by scholar J. Cheryl Exum as “a revolutionary development in commentary writing,” the book sets a new standard for political, theoretically sophisticated, and critically engaged approaches to Old Testament interpretation.
January 2026
Dr. Alyce McKenzie —
On Dec. 5, the Academy of Homiletics honored Alyce McKenzie with its 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating her enduring impact as a scholar, teacher and preacher. Presented by Dr. Wes Allen, the award recognizes McKenzie’s decades of leadership in homiletics and her long-standing service to Perkins School of Theology and the wider academy.
Dr. Harold J. Recinos —
Bridging Visions: Prophetic Voices, Pastoral Hearts is a three-day United Methodist conference on preaching and change, hosted by Discipleship Ministries and taking place January 15–17, 2026. The gathering brings together pastors, preachers, and leaders from across the connection for preaching, workshops, and fellowship, and includes a tribute to Dr. Joseph Lowery honoring his legacy of prophetic leadership grounded in pastoral care.