Perkins Names 2020 海豹奖 Recipient

Note to editors: a high-resolution photograph of 玛丽白 is available 在这里.

达拉斯(SMU) – 珀金斯神学院 is honored to announce 玛丽白 as the recipient of the 2020 Woodrow B. 海豹奖. She will be recognized at an award ceremony on Thursday, March 26, 2020, 5:00 p.m., during the opening worship service in Perkins Chapel (6001 Bishop Blvd, 达拉斯, 德州, 72505) for the three-day Perkins 信仰与学习峰会.

B. 海豹奖 is presented annually to a layperson in the United States who embodies the Christian faith and commitment of service to Christ in the church, community and world as exemplified by Judge Woodrow B. 海豹, a distinguished layperson whose interest and energy were instrumental in establishing the Perkins 信仰与学习峰会 (formerly the Perkins Theological School for the Laity). Selection for the 海豹 Award is made by the Perkins Lay Advisory Board.

White is a faithful United Methodist, church leader, volunteer and retired educator. 加入St后. 马克是联合卫理公会教徒 Church in El Paso, 德州, in 1983, 她担任过校长, 时任St主任. 马克的 School, and continues to support the school as a volunteer. 多年来, White has been active in a wide range of mission efforts, including ten mission trips (seven as team leader) in Eastern Europe, 墨西哥和美国.S.-墨西哥边境.

 “Mary is a dynamic and powerful force of leadership in St. 马克的 and the El Paso community,” said Russ Nebhut, pastor of St. 马克是联合卫理公会教徒. “She has a passion for serving the Lord through helping others.”

White grew up in West 德州 and eastern New Mexico, and attended New Mexico State University, 她在哪里遇见了她已故的丈夫, 卡罗.  They raised two daughters while 卡罗 White’s military career took the family to Tucson, 安克雷奇和普拉特维尔, 阿拉巴马州.在蒙哥马利附近.  After his retirement in 1981, they settled in El Paso and joined St. 马克的. 

In 1990, 玛丽白 became Director of St. 马克的 School, then a preschool and kindergarten. By the time she retired in 2008, the student body had grown fourfold, new facilities had been added and the curriculum had expanded to include classes through the sixth grade.

White’s long list of accomplishments in mission work includes leading or volunteering for mission trips in Macedonia, 匈牙利, 波斯尼亚和波兰. She also led mission projects at 3M Rancho Orphanage near El Paso and at the UMCOR Depots at Sager-Brown, La.以及犹他州的盐湖城. In support of her nomination for the 海豹 Award, letters came from around the U.S. 这个世界.

“Mary has always been a good organizer and could delegate the work in a practical way,伊斯特万·切尔纳克说, a retired minister who served United Methodist Church in 匈牙利 between 1996 and 2016. “Our brothers and sisters were not only grateful for the work that was done but were also enriched by the love and fellowship of our friends in El Paso. Mary is a real faith example for many of us.”

Csernak noted that in recent years White and her husband worked in a small remote village Kisvaszar among the Roma people; she continued the work after 卡罗’s death in 2014.

White also served as Conference Volunteers in 任务 (VIM) Coordinator from 2006 – 2015 and as a member of the board of Houchen Community Center, a national mission under the direction of the UMC’s Women’s Division. 

The Perkins 信仰与学习峰会 is supported by the 霍华德-Holbert Endowment Fund. The fund was established in 1986 in honor of the late Dr. 维吉尔P. 霍华德, who was associate director of the 珀金斯实习生计划 and professor of Supervised Ministry, 博士和. 约翰·C. Holbert, Professor Emeritus of Homiletics who served as Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at 珀金斯神学院 from 1997 until his retirement in 2012.

For more information and to register for the Perkins 信仰与学习峰会 visit the website 在这里.