Introduction

The Quarterly Papers on Religion and Aging were published by the Poppele Center for Health and Welfare Studies at the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. The Poppele (pronounced pop-pel-e) Center was an endowed program funded by a generous grant from the estate of Miss Oubri A. Poppele, in 1979. The money was originally given to the United Methodist General Board of Global Missions for the purpose of establishing a center for training ministers for more effective health and welfare ministries, especially with older persons. Saint Paul School of Theology, located in the heartland of the United States, was chosen as the location for the center. David B. Oliver, a gerontologist and chair of the Department of Sociology at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, was employed as the first director. He was elected to the faculty as a tenured professor and provided oversight to the Poppele Center for Health and Welfare Studies. In 1984 the center printed the first issue of the Quarterly Papers on Religion and Aging. Rev. Nancy June Johnson served as the center director in the interim between 1990 and 1994. She edited the last issue that was published in 1994. The school closed the center and changed the focus of the professor/directorship to a full-time professorship. Derrel R. Watkins, Professor of Social Work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was named to the Poppele Chair as Professor of Health and Welfare Ministries. Gerontology remained at the core of the professorship, but the Quarterly Papers were no longer published.