Benjamin Perkins is an HDS alumnus, a vice president for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), and an ordained minister. As if that wasn't enough, Perkins, MDiv '00, began serving in July as a member of the Fenway Health board of directors.
For 15 years, Perkins has worked in the field of public health. For nine of those years, he's worked at the Fenway Institute, a division of Fenway Health, specializing in HIV prevention research and education to communities vulnerable to HIV infection. Earlier this year, he was ordained as a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and serves as a minister-at-large at Hope Central Church in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.
HDS Communications recently caught up with Perkins, who discussed how he envisions contributing to Fenway Health as a board member, and how HDS broadened his understanding of ministry.
HDS: What does the future look like for Fenway Health and how do you envision shaping it through your new position on the board of directors?
BP: Fenway Health had its humble beginnings as a community health center in the early 1970s as part of a social justice movement, specifically, the belief that everyone deserved healthcare regardless of their ability to pay. I see my role as an individual committed to that original mission and holding Fenway Health accountable to ensuring that the aspiration is an ongoing reality—that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
HDS: What brought you to HDS? What was your experience like for you?
BP: I came to HDS to study my faith tradition in an academic setting, and, as part of my personal journey, to craft an understanding of the transcendent that was informed by scripture, tradition, reason, and experience (a la the Wesleyan Quadrilateral).
The experience was amazing. I was challenged academically, personally, and spiritually. I also had numerous leadership opportunities and felt that I took full advantage of my time at HDS.
HDS: How did you make the transition from a student of divinity to a public health professional?
BP: Because HIV/AIDS cast a large shadow over my experience as a gay man, I had the opportunity to take courses on pastoral care for those suffering from the disease, which in many ways set the stage for me to incorporate it into a profession.
After my graduation from HDS, I spent a summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as an outreach worker, and it occurred to me that I was engaging in a kind of street ministry! From that point on, I realized that seemingly "secular" work had many, if not all, of the elements of traditional ministry, and that my work could be ministry regardless of the setting. In retrospect, I'd say it was more of an evolution than a transition, really.
HDS: How did your studies at HDS influence you and prepare you for your current work in the health field? What are the benefits of people with training in theology and divinity working alongside healthcare professionals?
BP: My HDS studies prepared me to be a critical thinker, to broaden my understanding of ministry, and to introduce faith/spirituality into discussions about societal problems. I think it would be fair to say that HDS broadened my understanding of how ministry could be practiced in the world.
When I first came to HDS, I thought of ministry in the narrowest sense, that is, in the parish. HDS helped me to understand that ministry could be anything in which my passion or gifts intersected with a need in the world. In my case, I was passionate about educating men and women at risk for HIV infection about ways to avoid infection, and even more importantly, that their lives had value.
For me, public health discourse was both necessary and insufficient to the task of doing this, and that bridge was religious and/or spiritual in nature. Ultimately, then, I feel that the unique contribution those with a divinity/theology background bring to the conversation is a recognition that the solutions to deeply entrenched social problems are not only material, but spiritual.
HDS: In addition to your work at Fenway Health and the AHA/ASA, you're also an ordained minister. How has being a pastor helped you serve in your public health roles? What have been some of the challenges and how have you overcome them?
BP: I was only recently ordained and only recently joined AHA/ASA, so I can't say with any confidence the impact of ordination on my work at the organization. However, in my extensive work prior to AHA/ASA, people were aware that I was a minister-in-training, and that afforded me the opportunity to participate as clergy on panels dealing with HIV/AIDS, GLBT issues, and the faith community's response. I have not experienced any challenges thus far, but I'm sure there will be, so stay tuned.
HDS: What advice do you have for HDS students who want to become involved in public health or healthcare?
BP: The best bit of advice I would give students is to be comfortable with having a different frame for approaching public health. In my case, I have been quite vocal about my assertion that equity is a spiritual principle and that -isms are, first and foremost, spiritual problems. This takes nothing away from the tremendous body of data and empirical research, but rather adds a depth to it.
—by Michael Naughton