LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (February 5, 2025) — The Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning offers a wide range of theological mini-courses for laypersons, community leaders and clergy. Somewhere between seminary and Sunday School, the Summit leverages the rich learning community of SMU’s Perkins School of Theology to provide an experience in theological education.
This year, the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas has partnered with Perkins to bring the Summit to Little Rock on March 21-22; St. James UMC will host the event. Attendees can come for as little as a half-day or spend the whole two days; participants can design a customized Summit plan when they register.
As another incentive for Arkansas laity, the Foundation’s discount code, FREEAMF, will provide full payment of Arkansas lay attendees’ registration fees. Visit www.smu.edu/perkins/publicprograms/summit-for-faith-and-learning to learn more and to register. Opportunities include:
A lunchtime lecture from the Rev. Dr. Michael Beck, a leading voice in the Fresh Expressions movement, and his course, “Never Alone: Sharing the Gift of Community in a Lonely World”;
Distinguished Perkins Professor (and Arkansas native) the Rev. Dr. Rebekah Miles will present “Prepare to Meet God: A Field Guide to Ecstatic Religious Experience”;
“Cultivating Civility in a Polarized World” led by Perkins Professor of Systematic Theology Dr. Fred Aquino;
“King’s Dream: The Economics of the Beloved Community” taught by Director of the Perkins Black/Africana Church Studies Program Dr. Michael Greene; and
Perkins Professor of New Testament Dr. Sze-kar Wan will present two courses, “Be Paul! Reinterpreting the Apostle for the Twenty-first Century” and “Body vs Spirit? Rereading First Corinthians.”
Registration remains open through Friday, March 7; MFA scholarships are first-come, first-serve.
About the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas
With a mission to establish and manage charitable funds to strengthen and expand Methodist ministries across Arkansas, the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas manages over $220 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and other Methodist ministries. Founded in 1963, the Foundation has grown into one of the largest Methodist foundations in the country, managing more than 800 funds that support Methodist ministries. To learn more, visit methodistfoundationAR.org.
