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Graduate Mary Ann Hawkins Called to Minister to Ethnic Minorities and Women

Mary Ann Hawkins is earning her Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies, with a focus on the developmental issue surrounding women’s emergence into leadership in various cultures.

Before coming to Fuller, the native of Bakersfield, Calif., was serving as the academic dean at a theological school in Kenya. In order for the school to complete its accreditation process, she needed to (at least) be working on a doctorate, and several people recommended that she check out Fuller, which she says has an excellent reputation among the missionaries she associated with.

During the course of her studies at Fuller, Hawkins also served as an associate pastor at the South Bay Church of God in Torrance, Calif., where her husband, James, is senior pastor. While she plans to continue in that role after graduation, she senses God calling her to minister to the oppressed, in particular ethnic minorities and women, though she does not yet know what shape that calling will take in the future.

“In my career, I’ve had the privilege to serve in several significant leadership positions in some very patriarchal countries,” Hawkins says. “Part of that is due to being faithful in allowing God to use me the areas of my giftedness. That became part of my challenge to others: Don’t force transitions, but allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. God really does have a plan and purpose for our lives, individually and collectively!”

Hawkins and her husband, James, have two children: Alysia Hawkins-Ashmore, a worship pastor at the Ventura Missionary Church, in Ventura, Calif.; and Timothy Hawkins, who serves in the U.S. Navy and is stationed in Jacksonville, Fla.

To read about more participants in Fuller's 2003 commencement, see:

School of Theology
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