As Dan highlighted in the Newsletter Susanna Weslie Southard has taught our class numerous times since she joined the staff at Phillips Theological Seminary in 2007. She has a vast range of responsibilities at Phillips which is why she has 3 titles listed in the newsletter. I want to let you know more about Susanne who the Dean often refers to her as a mystagogue. Before moving to Tulsa, Susanna spent most of her life in Overland Park, Kansas. Her grandfather was a Methodist minister and her father was a Methodist Minister. When Susanna was in 1st grade, her father left the ministry to become a computer programmer. Years later, her mother was ordained. It is clear that Susanna has keen intellectual pursuits from an early age. In grade school her goal was to become the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. At a 9th grade jurisdictional youth camp, she was called to ministry. Her response was to enter into an agreement with God. If she could study law first, then she would attend seminary. She was a pre-law student at Washington University in St. Louis and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Keeping her bargain, she then went straight to Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She is an ordained elder in the Great Plains Conference (previously the Kansas East Conference). After serving in 5 churches over 11 years, her intellectual pursuits kept calling and she returned to graduate work in Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt University. She has been a true blessing for Phillips Seminary and keeps a very open door to all students. Her Dean calls her a mystagogue because she is the one that ushers new students into the mysteries of seminary. Also, she has published numerous articles and book reviews too numerous to list.
Clearly, Susanna has a wealth of knowledge and teaching experience. Her topic for the next 2 weeks is Apocryphal Narratives which is a very timing considering today’s news, etc.!
I hope to see you Sunday. The Carpenters and Brenda Worthington will delicious food for you as well!
Scott
p.s. Please go see BABA or be shamed.
Maranatha Class Website 