Blake Dean, recipient of the fall 2025 James Earl Massey Student Preaching Award at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, used his Nov. 4 sermon to remind fellow students of the Lord who saves, surprises, calls us by name and sends us out.
The award, given each semester to a graduating student who displays excellence in preaching, is named in honor of longtime friend of Beeson and renowned preacher James Earl Massey.
Preaching from John 20:11-18, Dean, who graduates with his Master of Divinity (MDiv) next month, focused on the relationship between the Lord and Mary Magdalene. At Jesus’ tomb, the place where Mary Magdalene sees sin and death has been turned into a place of joy, Dean said.
“Not only is this place of sorrow the ground of joy, but the grave she feared had been robbed actually was! Although, not by nefarious strangers, but by God Himself, who raised His Son, who stands before her now,” Dean said. “The first garden with its death-dealing sentence is not the final word. In this garden, God has brought forth life from death.”
Going into his first preaching class at Beeson, Dean had little experience in preaching God’s Word.
“I didn’t feel skilled or capable of preaching,” Dean said. “I like reading, teaching and writing about Scripture. But I was really grateful to have Doug Webster help me.”
Preaching became more fun during his second semester, when Dean continued to learn from Webster and from Beeson alumnus Andrew Russell. MDiv ’19.
Russell is one of Dean’s pastors at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, where Dean and his wife, Erin, serve. Erin will also graduate with her MDiv next month and serves as the director of children’s ministry at the church.
Being in school with his wife has been “the best,” Dean said.
“We aren’t competitive, so it was never a ‘who’s doing this better,’” he said. “It’s such a gift to be formed at the same time and in the same way. It meant that the center of gravity of our life was Beeson and St. Peter’s. Having this experience together has cultivated an even greater desire to do ministry together, whatever that might look like.”
Beeson has been a place of “solace and comfort” during times of suffering for the Deans, Blake said.
“I remember weeks where I was with Erin and saying, ‘I need to hear the Good News again today,’” Dean said. “What the Lord did through that experience and in the classroom is strip me of some of my more pretentious questions and ways I wanted to show myself in the classroom and in ministry.”
Dean, who will soon pursue ordination in the Anglican Church of North America, recently joined Beeson’s staff as the recruitment coordinator and alumni relations officer, and he and Erin are expecting their first child, daughter Magdalene, in 2026.
“I believe in this place,” Dean said. “To have been a student that was in some ways taken by surprise by how much the Lord is doing in me and is doing in this place makes me excited to meet the students who will walk in our doors next spring and next fall. It’s encouraging to hear that God is on the move.”
In his sermon, Dean emphasized that the Lord who sent Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples of the resurrection now sends them out to share the Good News.
“Mary tells the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord. Let me tell you what He told me,’” Dean said. “May we be those who minister the Gospel in this way as we stand in pulpits, classrooms, hospital beds, as we’re in counseling rooms or doing bedtime with our children. May we be those who have been changed by His saving word so profoundly that we proclaim not only with our lips, but with our very bones and lips, that we have seen the Lord.”