Perkins Announces Promotion of Faculty Members James K. Lee and Marcell Silva Steuernagel
DALLAS (SMU) – Perkins School of Theology announces the promotion of two faculty members: James K. Lee, from Associate Professor to Professor of Early Christianity, and Marcell Silva Steuernagel, from Assistant Professor to the tenured position of Associate Professor of Church Music.
The promotions were approved on May 2 by the Board of Trustees of ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University, based on both faculty members’ excellence in teaching, service to the university, and distinction in scholarship, research and publishing.
“Dr. Lee and Dr. Steuernagel have both made significant contributions in their respective fields and are gifted professors committed to serve our students,” said Hugo Magallanes, Dean ad interim of Perkins. “It is truly a blessing to have them as colleagues.”
James K. Lee - Professor of Early Christianity
James K. Lee has been promoted to the rank of full professor, the highest academic rank that a professor can achieve at a research university. Dr. Lee has emerged as a prominent scholar in the study of early Christian theology and ecclesiology. His research and scholarship focus on the formation of early Christian communities, and on the life and thought of the North African bishop Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE).
Lee has published two widely praised books, The Church in the Latin Fathers: Unity in Charity (Fortress Academic, 2020) and Augustine and the Mystery of the Church (Fortress Press, 2017). Church History called his 2020 book “an entrée into the world of patristic ecclesiology that will be authoritative for students at both the undergraduate and the graduate level for years to come.”
Another book, Praise Without Ceasing: The Spirituality of St. Augustine (Cascade Books) is forthcoming. Two other books are in progress: 1) a study of the development of ecclesiology according to the earliest theologians writing in Greek, and 2) an analysis of the practice of prayer within the Christian mystical tradition. Lee has also published articles and papers in numerous scholarly journals.
Lee joined Perkins in 2012 and was promoted to the tenured position of Associate Professor in 2018. He is a member of the North American Patristics Society and Catholic Theological Society of America and served as president of the Korean-American Catholic Theological Society.
Lee was Director of Perkins’ Doctor of Ministry program from 2018 to 2023. He has served on numerous committees and councils within Perkins and the University. Most recently, he was elected to serve as Faculty Senate president for the 2026-2027 academic year.
In 2020, Lee received the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Award, the most prestigious teaching award given to tenured ÃÛÌÒ½´faculty. Known for his ability to bridge historical depth with pedagogical breadth, Lee has taught fully online courses in Perkins’ curriculum, as well as undergraduate courses, such as Medieval Pilgrimage. He has also mentored PhD students and Doctor of Ministry students.
“Dr. Lee is a talented teacher, excelling in the physical classroom as well as teaching online,” said Magallanes. “His promotion to professor reflects the high quality of his research and pedagogical approaches and his care and respect for all our Perkins students.”
Marcell Silva Steuernagel -- Associate Professor of Church Music
Marcell Silva Steuernagel is a Lutheran ethnomusicologist, educator, conductor and composer, with a scholarly focus on the intersection of theology and music. A native of Brazil, he writes, performs and composes in English and Portuguese. Silva Steuernagel also serves as Director of the Master of Sacred Music Program, offered jointly with SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, and Director of the Doctor of Pastoral Music Program.
His book, Church Music Through the Lens of Performance (Routledge, 2021), investigated church music through the lens of performance theory. Perkins faculty emeritus C. Michael Hawn praised the book for its “break-through research that offers a clear framework for redefining the vocation of the musical worship leader across musical styles and cultural, ethnic and ecclesial contexts.”
Silva Steuernagel has contributed to hymnological scholarship, especially in global congregational song and postcolonial and decolonial perspectives on hymnody, in several prestigious edited volumes. In 2025, he became Caribbean/South American Regional Editor for The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.
An accomplished performer, Silva Steuernagel most recently released Vozes (2024), in Portuguese. He has also performed at many ecumenical liturgical gatherings, including the 11th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany (2022).
Silva Steuernagel is a frequent presenter at annual conferences of The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada, and is in demand as a presenter in academic and practitioner circles, including the Christian Congregational Music Conference (UK) and The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
At Perkins and SMU, Silva Steuernagel has served on numerous committees; most recently he was appointed as the Perkins representative to the university’s Global Strategy Committee, which promotes and supports comprehensive internationalization at SMU.
“Dr. Steuernagel has the remarkable ability to integrate multiple academic fields, languages, and bring together the church and the academy,” said Magallanes. “His pedagogy and teaching are exemplary, reflecting an interdisciplinary approach which makes his classes valued and appreciated by students.”
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, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of . Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Pastoral Music as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU's of Humanities and Sciences.