Austin Seminary Association (ASA)
The Austin Seminary Association (ASA) represents all alumni and former students of Austin Seminary. Its purpose is to advance the cause of theological education through Austin Seminary.
2026 ASA Award Winners
The Austin Seminary Association (ASA) Leadership team met in September and chose five alumni to honor with lifelong service or spotlight awards. They will be recognized at an alumni celebration during MidWinter Lectures, Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
The ASA recognizes Jim Currie (MDiv’79; ThM’89) for his lifelong ministry and service to the church. It is daunting to write a profile of a beloved pastor, or a passionate historian, or a respected author, or a pillar of Austin Seminary. Jim is all four.
Jim has a lifelong love for education as a student, professor, and administrator. He holds five degrees from four institutions: The University of Texas at Austin (B.A. Plan II, with honors), Indiana University (M.A. in German), Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), Rice University (Ph.D. in church history). He also served as an associate professor of church history and as director and then Associate Dean of Austin Seminary’s Houston Extension program.
Jim pastored churches in Lincoln County, Missouri, and was a new church development pastor in the Missouri Union Presbytery. He also led congregations in Killeen, Houston, and Pasadena, Texas. In 2012, Jim was named Minister of the Year by the Pasadena Kiwanis Club.
He has authored several books, including: The Kingdom of God Is Like . . . Baseball: A Metaphor for Jesus's Kingdom Parables; and The Church Beyond the Wall: Life and Ministry in the Former East Germany. Jim has also translated three books from German to English. Earlier this year, he completed three volumes of translations of former East German churchmen and theologians—one is a collection of sermons that has been published, and two are memoirs awaiting publication. In 2002, Jim wrote Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary: Completing a Century of Service. And he’s written the history of the Presbyterian Pan American School (where he is also a board member) to commemorate its centennial in 2011: Planting Trees: A History of the Presbyterian Pan American School.
Among his writings, Jim considers the most important one he edited and published to be a collection of sermons and stories by Presbyterian ministers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana in the 1950s and 1960s on the issue of civil rights. It’s titled: Doing Justice, Loving Kindness, and Walking Humbly: The Witness of Some Southern Presbyterian Pastors for the Cause of Racial Harmony in the 1950s and 1960s.
Jim currently serves as Executive Secretary for The Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest and writes occasional historical columns on all things Presbyterian-connected. Jim and JoAnn live in Austin, where they are active members of The Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis. They have four children and five grandchildren.
Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby (MDiv’79; DMin’79) is also being recognized for lifelong ministry and service. Since 1984, Jim has pastored St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas. (Did you know 86% of all our alumni have graduated in the 41 years Jim has served St. Andrew?!) Growing up in Dallas, Texas, Jim graduated from Justin Kimball High School. We wonder if he was in a band with anyone in high school?* While you ponder that question, Jim went off to ponder philosophy at UT Austin, earning a BA in that field in 1983.
He was among the first in the PC(USA) to advocate for LGBTQ church membership and leadership, ordination, and marriage. In the winter of 2015, Jim recognized a growing atmosphere of Islamophobia, and he took it upon himself to offer his services as an ally, as a friend, to the Muslim community in Austin. Jim has written for Huffington Post, Common Dreams, The Good Men Project, Countercurrents, Counterpunch, AlterNet, Faith and Reason, and The Rag Blog, among many others. His Facebook blog is followed globally by people of all beliefs. A few years ago, Jim led the St. Andrew congregation to be declared a sanctuary site, and they housed two Guatemalan refugees on their campus for several years.
As a human rights activist, Jim was outspoken in his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a strong supporter of universal health care. He has been honored for his work for women’s reproductive rights, against hate crimes, and for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons.
Among the organizations recognizing Jim:
- Texas Women’s Political Caucus
- The Austin Rape Crisis Center
- “Champion of Social Change” by Texas Assoc. Against Sexual Assault in May 2000
- “Texas Public Citizen of the Year” by the National Association of Social Workers for his work on gender, economic, and racial issues, 2007
- The Sultan and the Saint Peacemaking Award by the National Peacemakers Network.
*Fun fact: Jim wrote the first two songs Stevie Ray Vaughan ever recorded.
Spotlight on Multi-Faceted Ministry: Rev. Matt Miles (MDiv’99)
Matt is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Fort Davis, Texas. Matt is also the Vision and Outreach Presbyter for Tres Rios Presbytery (and in that capacity also serves on staff with the Tres Rios Border Foundation). Matt is also a licensed paramedic and currently serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Fort Davis Volunteer Fire Department and as Assistant Chief of Jeff Davis County Ambulance, often driving hundreds of miles to help the injured/sick as needed. Matt also drives a school bus for the school district, taking students and athletes hundreds of miles to various school activities. Matt is also a moderator for the sessions of two PC(USA) congregations in Tres Rios, the closest of which is only 183 miles from Matt. Also, for the last 18 years, Matt has served as Superintendent for the annual Bloys Campmeeting Association. Matt has also helped dozens of church groups with border mission trips. Matt also stays connected to Austin Seminary and our students and has coordinated Presbytery outreach and network events for students. Matt has also served the PC(USA) as part of the Seminary Support Network and the national Committee on Theological Education, as well as multiple committee and chair assignments in both Palo Duro and Tres Rios Presbyteries and the Synod of the Sun.
The ASA calls this a multi-faceted ministry, but Matt would likely counter that he’s simply called to ministry and that everything is ministry. Matt once said, “I’m called to preach the gospel. Jesus healed the sick. He tended to the needy. He gave us a particular set of instructions with which to live our lives.” Matt will go miles to help, heal, hug, shepherd any of God’s children. Fittingly enough, when called to tell him the ASA was recognizing him, Matt was sitting in a school gym, hours away from Fort Davis, watching the 8th-grade Fort Davis Junior volleyball team he had driven to their game.
Matt has been married to his wife, Stessa, for 30 years. They have three adult children: twin son and daughter who have graduated from college, and a son at Austin College (and on the football team). Go ‘Roos!
Spotlight on Advocacy: Susan Cottrell (MATS’17)
Susan has been called the prominent voice for faith parents of LGBTQ+ children, as a national speaker, teacher, and theologian. The year before she started seminary, Susan and her husband, Robert, founded the non-profit FreedHearts. While a student, she was a champion of LGBTQ+ inclusion and affirmation. Susan says FreedHearts was established to “Help people learn to free their hearts to love and be loved.” The week prior to the ASA Leadership Team selecting this year’s awardees, Susan had celebrated the 200th episode of her top-ranked podcast: FreedHearts. She is also an international speaker whose TEDx talk has more than 5 million views. OutSmart magazine called her “The Mother of All MamaBears.” The Advocate dubbed her “our favorite affirming matriarch.” She has been featured on ABC’s 20/20, Nightline, Good Morning America, NBC News Out, and as a contributor on the Our Bible app.
Her Westminster Press published book, Mom, I’m Gay”—Loving Your LGBTQ Child and Strengthening Your Faith, is endorsed by The Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, and many others. Her workbook for the LGBTQ+ community to help heal from religious and family trauma, True Colors: Celebrating the Truth and Beauty of the Real You, has a foreword by Dr. Mel White and is critically acclaimed.
Susan and her husband have been married for 38 years. They have five children, including two transgender children, a transgender daughter-in-law, and five grandchildren. They currently live near Seattle, Washington.
Spotlight on Sacred Leadership: Rev. Jasiel Hernandez (MDiv’18)
Jasiel is Senior Pastor/Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church, Kerrville, Texas. The ASA honors Jasiel for his pastoral leadership in helping his congregation shepherd the Kerrville community after the July 4, 2025, floods that killed 135 people in the Texas Hill Country. With Jasiel’s guidance, the congregation helped with family reunification during the July 4th weekend and temporarily housed several families until they could be moved to a Red Cross hosting site. Aid organization Crisis Response International set up its command center in the church's upstairs offices, and the Small Business Administration began operating out of the church’s facilities.
An annual July 4 community fundraising organ concert was postponed until July 11, during which the congregation raised $1,460 for relief efforts. The church has also long served as a depot for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance efforts and already had an abundance of clean-up kits and other emergency supplies to meet immediate needs.
See more here: Church in Kerrville serves as reunification center following central Texas floods : NPR
Jasiel’s role as a sacred leader was recognized earlier in the year, even before the floods. In April, he was honored with the Purposeful Life Award from Schreiner University for his impactful leadership in the Presbyterian Church and community. Jasiel is an alumnus not only of Austin Seminary but also of the Presbyterian Pan American School and Schreiner University. With the recognition, Schreiner noted, “His leadership and warm spirit continue to bless those around him.”