Civil rights giant Dr. John Perkins will receive an honorary doctorate from Wesley Biblical Seminary at its commencement ceremony on May 7th in recognition of Dr. Perkins’ life-long work in racial reconciliation. Dr. Perkins, a native of New Hebron, MS, has advised or served on the Presidential Task Forces of five U.S. Presidents and is the author of 17 books, including the best- selling One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race.
Wesley Biblical Seminary is recognized as one of the most integrated seminaries in the country. President Dr. Matt Ayars says he is thrilled that WBS faculty “voted to confer the degree of Honorary Doctorate in Divinity to John Perkins based on his obedience to a life-long calling to bring redemption and racial reconciliation to the deep south, and his countless contributions made to society as a Christian leader and civil rights activist. It is our tremendous privilege to honor Dr. Perkins in this way.”
Dr. Perkins’ life has inspired countless Christian leaders, including Bishop Joseph Campbell, head of Mississippi’s South-Central Diocese of Church of Christ (Holiness) USA. Bishop Campbell, a WBS alumnus and Trustee said, “In my thirty plus years of being associated with Wesley Biblical Seminary I have observed that the team of professors and staff have always exhibited a care for the people of God regardless of nationality, color or gender. I believe that honoring Dr. John Perkins further demonstrates the commitment to growing our Christian community.”
Born in 1930, John Perkins moved to California when he was seventeen and served in the Korean War. He and his wife Vera Mae returned to Mississippi in 1960 and were both deeply involved in the fight for civil rights. Despite being beaten and tortured by police for his desegregation efforts, Dr. Perkins became more convinced that a vibrant Christian faith was the only answer to the stain of racial injustice in the US.
The couple returned to California and started The John and Vera Mae Perkins Foundation for Justice, Reconciliation & Community Development, a non-profit organization that teaches and promotes the principles of Christian Community development and racial reconciliation. They moved the Foundation to Jackson, MS in 1998. For the last quarter of a century working with the poor, Dr. John Perkins recognized that the problems encountered by those living in West Jackson and similar communities cannot be solved without strong commitment and what he calls “risky actions on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith.” He observed that most creative long- term solutions to the problems of the poor came from grassroots and church-based efforts of people who saw themselves as the agents of Jesus here on earth and in their own neighborhoods and communities.
Dr. Perkins will receive his honorary degree at Wesley Biblical Seminary’s graduation Saturday, May 7th, 9AM at Madison United Methodist Church. The public is welcome to attend.
