Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Approved by the University Senate for United Methodist ordination.
Austin Seminary is Presbyterian, and a United Methodist candidate may attend it — the University Senate has approved it for ordination coursework. People choose it for reasons that are usually good ones: they already live in Austin, they know somebody on the faculty, or they want the public-theology emphasis and the University of Texas across town. The thing to be clear-eyed about is that a Presbyterian seminary has no reason to teach United Methodist doctrine and polity, and does not. That is a solvable problem, but only if you solve it early.
The Discipline's requirements, at this school.
¶324.4 asks for nine areas of basic graduate theological study, three semester hours each, with a minimum of six hours in United Methodist studies. Not pass/fail. ¶335.3(d) asks for them again at full connection, so they cannot be put off.
University Senate standing
Approved — non–United Methodist
On the University Senate's list of approved non–United Methodist schools of theology. A United Methodist candidate may attend here; the Senate list, not ATS accreditation, is the gate ¶324.4 names.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Do online classes count?
No — no online or distance class here counts toward ¶324.4
GBHEM states that none of the Senate-approved non-UMC schools are approved to provide distance or online education for any classes in an M.Div., and that online or distance classes taken at them cannot count toward the educational requirements for UM ordination. Austin's M.Div. is an in-person degree, so this is less of a trap here than elsewhere — but it means an online course taken here for convenience is a course that does not count.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Old Testament
Introduction to Old Testament is a required course.
New Testament
Introduction to New Testament is a required course.
Theology
Two required courses — Theology: Doctrines & Themes, and Theology: Figures & Movements.
Church history
Introduction to the History of Christianity: Apostolic Era to 1650 is required. Note the end date — a course stopping at 1650 does not touch Wesley.
Preaching
Introduction to Preaching is a required course.
Worship / liturgy
The Church as a Worshiping Community is a required course.
Mission of the church in the world
Theology & Practice of Mission & Evangelism is a required course.
Evangelism
Covered by the same single required course as mission. ¶324.4 asks for three semester hours in mission of the church in the world AND three in evangelism — one combined course may not satisfy both buckets. Ask your board before assuming it does.
United Methodist studies (doctrine, polity, history)
This is a Presbyterian seminary; there is no United Methodist doctrine, polity, or history requirement, and ¶324.4 asks for a minimum of six semester hours. Partial help exists: Ángel Gallardo, assistant professor of church history, teaches a course on Methodism. That may serve the history component; nothing in the published curriculum covers UM doctrine or polity.
As of August 2026 · source ↗
Austin Seminary covers seven of the nine ¶324.4 areas inside its required M.Div. curriculum, which is more than some United Methodist schools manage. The real gap is the six semester hours of United Methodist studies — doctrine, polity, and history — which a Presbyterian seminary has no reason to teach and does not.
Evangelism is a second, smaller question, because it shares a single required course with mission. Neither is a reason not to come here. Both are reasons to have the conversation with your Board of Ordained Ministry registrar before you enrol rather than in your final year, because the fix costs a semester if you plan it and a year if you do not.
Take United Methodist studies online from a United Methodist school. GBHEM's restriction is on classes taken at the non-UMC schools; the thirteen UMC schools are all approved to deliver fully online coursework that counts. On the plain reading that makes an online UM doctrine/polity/history sequence from a UMC school the cleanest way to close this gap while you study in Austin — but confirm the arrangement with your registrar first, in writing.
Perkins offers the ¶324.4 studies as a nondegree track, Basic Graduate Theological Studies, built for exactly this situation. It is in Dallas, about three hours up I-35, and Perkins also teaches in Houston–Galveston.
Ask Dr. Gallardo what his Methodism course covers and whether it has been accepted for the UM history component before. He taught at Perkins before coming here, so he is likelier than most to know the answer.
Get it in writing from your conference's Board of Ordained Ministry registrar — which specific courses they will accept for United Methodist studies, evangelism, and mission of the church. A verbal yes from an admissions officer is not the same thing.
Confirm all of this with your conference’s Board of Ordained Ministry registrar before you enroll. They decide which courses satisfy which requirement — not the catalogue, and not us.
The faculty, by what they work on.
19 faculty, grouped by field rather than alphabetically — because the useful question is not who is here, it is who is here who works on the thing you care about.
Latino/Hispanic ministry
Patricia Bonilla
Assistant Professor of Christian Education
PhD, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (ABD)
Recent work (1)
- Connecting Faith and Justice: Junior High Curriculum, Lectionary Year C
Gregory L. Cuéllar
Full Professor of Hebrew Bible and the Ruth A. Campbell Chair of Biblical Studies
PhD, Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, 2006
Recent work (3)
- Migration and Western Biblical Interpretation: Empire, Method, and the Politics of Displacement
- Resacralizing the Other at the U.S.–Mexico Border: A Borderland Hermeneutic
- Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century
Ángel Jazak Gallardo
Assistant Professor of Church History
PhD, Southern Methodist University, 2018
Teaches surveys on the history of Christian thought, race and religion in the Americas, and Methodism, plus seminars on figures like Bartolomé de Las Casas. Came to Austin in 2022 from Perkins, where he was associate director of the intern program — which makes him the person here most likely to understand what a United Methodist candidate needs.
Recent work (2)
- Mapping the Origins of Christianity in the Americas
- Legacies of Slavery and Dispossession in the Texas/Mexico Borderlands
José R. Irizarry
President and Professor of Practical Theology
PhD, Northwestern University
Crystal Silva-McCormick
Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Director of Latinx Programs
PhD, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Practical theology
Sarah Allen
Associate Dean of Ministerial Formation and Advanced Studies
DMin, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2019
Ted V. Foote Jr.
Professor in the Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership
MDiv, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 1979
Recent work (3)
- Public Education Is a Sacred Calling: Citizen Stakeholders All - For the Common Good
- Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World
- Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt
José R. Irizarry
President and Professor of Practical Theology
PhD, Northwestern University
Andrew Zirschky
Research Professor in Youth Ministry
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2014
Recent work (2)
- Teaching Outside the Box: Five Approaches for Opening Scripture with Teenagers
- Beyond the Screen: Youth Ministry for the Connected But Alone Generation
New Testament
Margaret Aymer
The First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, D. Thomason Professor of New Testament Studies
PhD, Union Theological Seminary, 2004
Recent work (5)
- Islanders, Islands and the Bible: Ruminations
- James: Diaspora Rhetorics of a Friend of God
- Fortress Commentary on the Bible
- Confessing the Beatitudes
- First Pure, then Peaceable: Frederick Douglass Reads James
Rodney Caruthers II
Assistant Professor of New Testament
PhD, Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan
Donghyun Jeong
Assistant Professor of New Testament
PhD, Emory University, 2021
Recent work (2)
- Pauline Baptism among the Mysteries: Ritual Messages and the Promise of Initiation
- The Wandering People of God: A (Re)introduction to the Letter to the Hebrews Using a Sociolocative Textual Approach
Systematic theology
William Greenway
Professor of Philosophical Theology
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1997
Recent work (4)
- Agape Ethics: Moral Realism and Love for All Life
- The Challenge of Evil: Grace and the Problem of Suffering
- For the Love of All Creatures: The Story of Grace in Genesis
- A Reasonable Belief: Why God and Faith Make Sense
David H. Jensen
Professor in the Clarence N. and Betty B. Frierson Distinguished Chair of Reformed Theology
PhD, Vanderbilt University, 1999
Recent work (5)
- Christian Theology in a Pluralistic Age
- Christian Understandings of Christ: The Historical Trajectory
- Always Being Reformed: Challenges and Prospects for the Future of Reformed Theology
- 1 and 2 Samuel
- God, Desire and a Theology of Human Sexuality
Cynthia L. Rigby
The W. C. Brown Professor of Theology
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1998
Recent work (5)
- Holding Faith: A Practical Introduction to Christian Faith
- Connections
- The Promotion of Social Righteousness
- Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on Mary
- Power, Powerlessness, and the Divine: New Inquiries in Bible and Theology
Christian education & formation
Sarah Allen
Associate Dean of Ministerial Formation and Advanced Studies
DMin, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2019
Patricia Bonilla
Assistant Professor of Christian Education
PhD, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (ABD)
Recent work (1)
- Connecting Faith and Justice: Junior High Curriculum, Lectionary Year C
Womanist & feminist theology
Margaret Aymer
The First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, D. Thomason Professor of New Testament Studies
PhD, Union Theological Seminary, 2004
Recent work (5)
- Islanders, Islands and the Bible: Ruminations
- James: Diaspora Rhetorics of a Friend of God
- Fortress Commentary on the Bible
- Confessing the Beatitudes
- First Pure, then Peaceable: Frederick Douglass Reads James
Cynthia L. Rigby
The W. C. Brown Professor of Theology
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1998
Recent work (5)
- Holding Faith: A Practical Introduction to Christian Faith
- Connections
- The Promotion of Social Righteousness
- Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on Mary
- Power, Powerlessness, and the Divine: New Inquiries in Bible and Theology
Youth ministry
Patricia Bonilla
Assistant Professor of Christian Education
PhD, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (ABD)
Recent work (1)
- Connecting Faith and Justice: Junior High Curriculum, Lectionary Year C
Andrew Zirschky
Research Professor in Youth Ministry
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2014
Recent work (2)
- Teaching Outside the Box: Five Approaches for Opening Scripture with Teenagers
- Beyond the Screen: Youth Ministry for the Connected But Alone Generation
Liturgy & worship
Stephanie Budwey
Associate Professor of Sacred Music and Dean of the Chapel
Jennifer L. Lord
The Dorothy B. Vickery Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies
PhD, Graduate Theological Union, 2003
Recent work (5)
- Introduction to the Revised Common Lectionary
- Choreography in the Worship Space
- Presiding Basics
- Finding Language and Imagery: Words for Holy Speech
- Sacraments and Preaching
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
Gregory L. Cuéllar
Full Professor of Hebrew Bible and the Ruth A. Campbell Chair of Biblical Studies
PhD, Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, 2006
Recent work (3)
- Migration and Western Biblical Interpretation: Empire, Method, and the Politics of Displacement
- Resacralizing the Other at the U.S.–Mexico Border: A Borderland Hermeneutic
- Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century
Suzie Park
Associate Professor of Old Testament
PhD, Harvard University, 2010
Recent work (5)
- Love in the Hebrew Bible
- The Flawed Family of God: Stories about the Imperfect Families in Genesis
- 2 Kings
- Transformation and Demarcation of Jacob's 'Flocks' in Genesis 30: 25-43: Identity, Election and the Role of the Divine
- The Frustration of Wisdom: Wisdom, Counsel, and Divine Will in 2 Samuel 17:1–23
Preaching
Carolyn Browning Helsel
Associate Professor in the Blair Monie Distinguished Chair of Homiletics
PhD, Emory University, 2014
Recent work (4)
- The Flawed Family of God: Stories about the Imperfect Families in Genesis
- The A.B.C.'s of Diversity: Helping Kids Embrace Our Differences
- Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Race
- Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders
Jennifer L. Lord
The Dorothy B. Vickery Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Studies
PhD, Graduate Theological Union, 2003
Recent work (5)
- Introduction to the Revised Common Lectionary
- Choreography in the Worship Space
- Presiding Basics
- Finding Language and Imagery: Words for Holy Speech
- Sacraments and Preaching
Black church studies
Margaret Aymer
The First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, D. Thomason Professor of New Testament Studies
PhD, Union Theological Seminary, 2004
Recent work (5)
- Islanders, Islands and the Bible: Ruminations
- James: Diaspora Rhetorics of a Friend of God
- Fortress Commentary on the Bible
- Confessing the Beatitudes
- First Pure, then Peaceable: Frederick Douglass Reads James
Church music
Stephanie Budwey
Associate Professor of Sacred Music and Dean of the Chapel
Mission & social justice
Gregory L. Cuéllar
Full Professor of Hebrew Bible and the Ruth A. Campbell Chair of Biblical Studies
PhD, Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, 2006
Recent work (3)
- Migration and Western Biblical Interpretation: Empire, Method, and the Politics of Displacement
- Resacralizing the Other at the U.S.–Mexico Border: A Borderland Hermeneutic
- Empire, the British Museum, and the Making of the Biblical Scholar in the Nineteenth Century
Congregational leadership
Ted V. Foote Jr.
Professor in the Louis H. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair of Pastoral Ministry and Leadership
MDiv, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 1979
Recent work (3)
- Public Education Is a Sacred Calling: Citizen Stakeholders All - For the Common Good
- Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World
- Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt
Church history
Ángel Jazak Gallardo
Assistant Professor of Church History
PhD, Southern Methodist University, 2018
Teaches surveys on the history of Christian thought, race and religion in the Americas, and Methodism, plus seminars on figures like Bartolomé de Las Casas. Came to Austin in 2022 from Perkins, where he was associate director of the intern program — which makes him the person here most likely to understand what a United Methodist candidate needs.
Recent work (2)
- Mapping the Origins of Christianity in the Americas
- Legacies of Slavery and Dispossession in the Texas/Mexico Borderlands
Wesleyan & Methodist studies
Ángel Jazak Gallardo
Assistant Professor of Church History
PhD, Southern Methodist University, 2018
Teaches surveys on the history of Christian thought, race and religion in the Americas, and Methodism, plus seminars on figures like Bartolomé de Las Casas. Came to Austin in 2022 from Perkins, where he was associate director of the intern program — which makes him the person here most likely to understand what a United Methodist candidate needs.
Recent work (2)
- Mapping the Origins of Christianity in the Americas
- Legacies of Slavery and Dispossession in the Texas/Mexico Borderlands
Ethics & public theology
Carolyn Browning Helsel
Associate Professor in the Blair Monie Distinguished Chair of Homiletics
PhD, Emory University, 2014
Recent work (4)
- The Flawed Family of God: Stories about the Imperfect Families in Genesis
- The A.B.C.'s of Diversity: Helping Kids Embrace Our Differences
- Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Race
- Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders
Pastoral care & counseling
Philip Browning Helsel
Associate Professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair in Pastoral Care
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2012
Chaplaincy
Philip Browning Helsel
Associate Professor in the Nancy Taylor Williamson Distinguished Chair in Pastoral Care
PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2012
Evangelism & church planting
Crystal Silva-McCormick
Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Director of Latinx Programs
PhD, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
World Christianity
Crystal Silva-McCormick
Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Director of Latinx Programs
PhD, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Interreligious engagement
Crystal Silva-McCormick
Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Director of Latinx Programs
PhD, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Limited to the 19 core faculty on austinseminary.edu/academics/meet-the-faculty's 'Faculty' section (its separate adjunct/emeritus section is excluded, the same core-faculty cut every school in this project uses). Degrees come from the Education section of each person's FinalSite profile dialog — a JS-loaded popup, not a fetchable page, opened here with a real browser for all 19 (18 have degrees; Stephanie Budwey's dialog is genuinely thin — name, title, and a phone number only, no Education or Bio section at all). Publications are read from the same dialog's Bio prose, which the original hand-built harvest never read past Education on: 13 of 19 have real, sourced publications there, capped at five each. No per-person email exists anywhere on the site (dialogs and the separate staff directory both carry only work phone numbers plus one general seminary address) — confirmed by reading all 19 dialogs in full, not assumed from the modal's ceiling.
Titles and fields are the school’s own; the grouping is ours. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary does not publish a separate page per professor, so there is nowhere deeper to link — the full listing is here ↗. Professors answer email from prospective students more often than you would guess. Publication lists come from the school’s own annual listing ↗, are a selection rather than a full CV, and are only shown for people currently on the directory.
The degrees.
Master of Divinity
Non-Presbyterian students take a one-language track rather than two
The ordination degree, taught in person. Required courses run across Old and New Testament, history, two theology courses, ethics, Christian education, mission and evangelism, pastoral care, preaching, worship, world religions, and a senior capstone, plus a biblical language track and supervised ministry.
Three years full-time
M.Div. / Master of Science in Social Work
Dual degree with UT Austin's Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Approved MSSW courses can satisfy M.Div. elective requirements — for agency ministry, advocacy, and clinical counselling.
M.Div. / Master of Business Administration
Began fall 2025
Dual degree with Schreiner University's online MBA in Ethical Leadership. Both degrees in four years, in residence at Austin.
Master of Arts in Youth Ministry
All MAYM students receive a 100% tuition grant, regardless of need
A dedicated youth ministry degree with its own director and research professor.
Master of Arts (Theological Studies)
Not an ordination degree. Also carries the public theology concentration.
Certificado en Ministerio
A Spanish-language ministry certificate, alongside the Hispanic Ministries Mission Network. Not a degree, and not a route to ¶324.4 — but a real programme in Spanish.
Money, plainly.
Tuition
$810 per credit for 2026–27
Austin states a three-credit course at $2,430, and the D.Min. residency session at $2,180. Be careful comparing this to other schools: Austin's own pages describe the M.Div. as 180 credits on one page and 78 on another, using different credit units. Ask for a total cost of the degree, not a per-credit figure.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Who gets aid
More than 90% of students receive some form of tuition assistance
As of August 2026 · source ↗
Typical award
Need-based grants up to 90% of tuition; eight merit scholarships cover full tuition
Austin also lists merit fellowships covering tuition, fees, and a housing/academic stipend, and says campus housing rent is subsidised at roughly half local market rate — which in Austin is not a small line item.
As of August 2026 · source ↗
Austin publishes its federal loan default rate — 3.7% — which almost no seminary does voluntarily. Treat that as a real signal about how graduates actually fare, and as a fair question to ask any other school you are weighing.
Place, and what else is within reach.
The University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
The M.Div./MSSW dual degree. Approved social work courses count toward M.Div. electives — a genuine cross-registration, not just a marketing partnership.
Schreiner University
The M.Div./MBA, pairing Austin's in-person M.Div. with Schreiner's 36-hour online MBA in Ethical Leadership over four years.
Who this fits, and what to weigh.
- People already rooted in Austin who would have to uproot a family to attend a United Methodist school.
- People drawn to public theology — justice, immigration, ecology, race — where the faculty's strength genuinely is.
- People pursuing social work, counselling, or advocacy alongside ministry, where the UT dual degree does real work.
- United Methodist studies is the gap, and it is six semester hours. Nothing about the degree closes it for you.
- The required church history course stops at 1650, so it does not touch Wesley.
- No online or distance class taken here counts toward ordination. That rule is GBHEM's, not the school's, and Austin has no reason to warn you about it.
- Compare costs carefully — Austin's own pages describe the M.Div. as 180 credits in one place and 78 in another, using different units. Ask for a total, not a rate.
- Seven of the nine ¶324.4 areas sit inside the required M.Div. curriculum — better coverage than some United Methodist schools manage.
- Non-Presbyterian students take a one-language track rather than two, which is a real difference in workload.
- The M.Div./MSSW with UT Austin is genuine cross-registration: approved social work courses satisfy M.Div. electives.
- Austin publishes its federal loan default rate, 3.7%. Almost no seminary volunteers that number.
- Ángel Gallardo teaches church history here and taught at Perkins before that — he teaches a course on Methodism, and is the obvious first person to ask about the gap.
Send one email this week.
Not an application — an email. Pick the professor above whose field is closest to what you cannot stop thinking about, and ask them what they are working on. Then ask admissions to sit in on one class. Both are free, and both tell you more than a brochure will.
Everything on this page was checked against the school’s own published material on August 6, 2026. Costs and curricula change every year — the source link beside each fact is the one that stays current.