Dwight Perry
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Email:
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Department:None
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School:None
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Position:Non-Teaching
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Start Date:December 2019
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Personal Information:
Dr. Dwight Perry served as a professor of Pastoral Studies in the Moody undergraduate school from 1994 to 2004. Prior to that, he was Moody’s midwest regional coordinator from 1986 to 1989. In that role he oversaw continuing education classes and evening classes at seven regional campuses including the main campus for the Moody Evening School. As a practitioner scholar, Dr. Perry has served extensively in the local church, denominational, and academic leadership for the past 40 years.
He comes to Moody from nearby North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, where he has served as the dean of faculty since 2017. He is also a professor of homiletics and leadership.
A sought-after Bible teacher, Dr. Perry has spoken across the country in the areas of homiletics, organizational and systems development, and diversity. He also served for 12 years as a regional president and executive minister with Converge Great Lakes. As the leader of a church association that specializes in church planting and leadership training, Dr. Perry revitalized a movement that had plateaued and was in decline.
Dr. Perry has published extensively in the area of practical theology, including homiletics (preaching) for ministry leaders to assist them in preparing Bible-centered messages and lessons. In addition, he has published and contributed to resources focused on racial and cultural diversity, as well as urban ministry, such as Moody Publishers’ A Heart for the City.
In addition to his years of experience in academics and institutional leadership, Dr. Perry has been a senior pastor and an associate pastor at three Chicagoland churches. He was the first African American to join the national staff of the Baptist General Conference, working in the area of U.S. ministries and home missions. He oversaw fundraising, African American and urban church planting, as well as department budget and finance.
A native of Chicago, Dr. Perry grew up in the inner city of Chicago and went on to be the first African American to earn a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. He is also a graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana, and has four degrees in education.
He and his wife, Dr. Cynthia Perry, are parents of four adult children and have five grandchildren. She is a tenured professor in the School of Education at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, whose first love is teaching women about the love of Jesus.
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Educational Background:
Ph.D. Educational Studies Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Deerfield, Illinois Dissertation Focus: Educational Precedents for Valued Ministerial Attributes and Practices in the African-American Church
M.S. Adult and Continuing Education National-Louis University Thesis Focus: Learning Preferences within a Theological Institution Theological Education in Non-Traditional Educational Settings
M.Ed. Educational Psychology University of Illinois, Urbana
B.A. History Education African-American Concentration Teaching Certification – Grades 6-12 University of Illinois, Urbana
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Publications:
How to Help Hurting People: A Manual on Lay Counselors. Contributing Author. Urban Ministries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.1990
“Protection from the Pressures,” Leadership Journal, April 1997.
“Ministerial Formation within the African American Church,” chapter in the book, A Heart for the City, Moody Press. 1999
Learning Preferences in a Theological Institution, Master’s Thesis. National-Louis University.
Breaking Down Barriers: A Black Evangelical Describes the Black Church. Baker Book House. 1998
Educational Precedents for Valued Ministerial Attributes and Practices in the African-American Church, Doctoral Dissertation. University of Michigan Dissertation Services. 1998
Building Unity in the Church in the New Millennium. General Editor. Moody Press. 2002
Connect: Proclaiming the Timeless Truths of Scripture: Harvest Publishers 2008
Funding Practices for Middle Judicatories in Ministry: Sabbatical Project, 2009
Organizational Leadership Transition and Succession: Sabbatical Project 2014
Turnaround: Renewing Organizations Small or Large from the Inside/Out 2012
The Hole in My Soul: The Importance of Mentoring and Investing in Others 2013
Finish Well: A Guide for Leadership Transition and Succession 2016
Theological Training for Evangelical Covenant Ministers, General Editor and Chair of Task Force on Theological Education within the Evangelical Covenant Church 2019
Fourth Quarter: Enduring Leadership Lessons that Will Leave a Legacy, Next Step Resources 2019
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Professional / Personal Interests:
Football, baseball, and basketball
