DBU Report Winter 2020-2021 - Page 19

WINTER 2020–2021 19 DBU Opens New Center for Baptist History and Heritage John Bunyan, Roger Williams, Isaac Backus, and John Leland. Plans are also in the making for a Wall of Honor that will feature a number of these great Baptist leaders of the past. Churches will have the opportunity to bring in groups and professors to invite their classes to enjoy listening to the lectures, peruse the books, and view the informative exhibits. Hopgood graduated from Baylor University with a degree in elementary education and a minor in health. She taught first and second grade at West Main Elementary in Lancaster. Her youngest son, Matthew, is a freshman this year at DBU. Hopgood has been active in various ways in Baptist churches literally from coast to coast and participated in Baptist mission projects internationally. She is currently a member of the Commission on Baptist Heritage and Identity of the Baptist World Alliance and of the Baptist History and Heritage Society. Hopgood’s parents, Dr. Bill and Bobbie Pinson, are longtime friends of DBU and highly respected among Texas Baptist leaders. Her mother served on the DBU Board of Trustees, and her father had a distinguished career as a seminary professor and president, and later as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He also served as volunteer director of the Texas Baptist Heritage Center and spoke annually in DBU Chapel. “As I reflect on my own past, I am grateful for contributions Baptists have made in my life,” Allison says as she eagerly anticipates the Center’s opening day. “I was saved and baptized in a Baptist church and have been involved in Baptist churches in different parts of our country. I have been blessed by many Baptist organizations throughout my life and have appreciated seeing Baptist ministries firsthand in action.” For more information on the DBU Center for Baptist History and Heritage, email allison@dbu.edu .