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Andrew C. Stoker is an American Senior Minister for the First United Methodist Church of Dallas.[1]
He was raised in Texas growing in El Paso. He was raised in the tradition of United Methodism from a very young age. He received his bachelor's degree in Communication studies from Texas Tech University followed by a master's degree in Divinity/Ministry from Southern Methodist University (SMU) and a PHD in Family Studies from Texas Woman's University. He also finished in 2001 his seminar at Perkins School of Theology at SMU.
He served in Henderson, Texas and in Walnut Hill United Methodist Church of Dallas. He was later commissioned to be an Associate Director of Connectional Ministries North Texas Conference, and at First United Methodist Church of Denton. For the next decade, Stoker would hold several positions throughout North Texas until a Methodist Bishop appointed him to be the Senior Minister of First United Methodist Church of Dallas in 2013.
He has forged strong partnerships with the Dallas Mayor’s Office, the Dallas Arts District, the Dallas Independent School District and local and national education and literacy advocates. He is active in social justice, advocacy, community outreach and racial reconciliation. He has served on the Boards of National Project Transformation, Dallas Project Transformation, the North Texas Food Bank, Methodist Health Systems, The Dallas Arts District, CC Young Senior Care, the Texas Methodist Foundation, Faith Forward Dallas of the Thanksgiving Square Foundation, is currently the Chair of the Board for La Lydia Patterson Institute of El Paso.
He is best known for his friendship with imam Omar Suleiman, the Imam at Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving. The two initiated a co-produced video titled "An Imam, a Pastor and a Dream", calling for unity among Christians and Muslims in the U.S. and around the world.[2][3] This prompted ISIS in early March 2017 to attack the initiative and called for his assassination of imam Suleiman in a propaganda film titled "Kill The Apostate Imams". Suleiman responded to the threat stating, "I believe that their venom needs to be condemned. They’ve hijacked my religion."[4]
Personal life
editIn 1998, he married Megan Callahan, his long time girlfriend from college and a registered pediatric nurse. The couple have two sons, Alex and Wesley.
References
edit- ^ "First United Methodist Church Dallas | Ministry Team". firstchurchdallas.org. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "An Imam, A Pastor, and A Dream | Yaqeen Stories". YouTube. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "North Texas Pastor and Imam Try to Lead By Example - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth". nbcdfw.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ Paul, Jeff (13 March 2017). "ISIS Calls For North Texas Imam's Assassination". CBS DFW. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
External links
edit{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoker, Andrew
[[Category:Living people [[Category:American United Methodist clergy [[Category:Texas Tech University alumni [[Category:Southern Methodist University alumni