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Fall 2009 | Volume 68, No. 1
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Partners in Ministry - Perry and Patsy Bolin
by Keith Collier
Perry N. Bolin’s earliest memories of Southwestern Seminary trace all the way back to his childhood. His pastor at First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas, was also a student at Southwestern and would often stay with Bolin’s family. The young pastor was Huber Drumwright, who became a close family friend and eventually served as the dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern.
Also from early childhood, Bolin was introduced to music. Since that time, he has been actively involved in the choir ministries at the churches in which he has been a member. Today, he sings with the choir at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.
Bolin’s fondness for Southwestern and music have combined in recent years, as he and his wife, Patsy, have helped support Southwestern’s annual Gala Concert of Sacred Music and plans for an Orchestra Rehearsal Room in the new chapel.
Paraphrasing Martin Luther, Bolin says his philosophy of music is: “Next to the preached word, music is God’s greatest gift to man.”
“Music has a way of penetrating the human heart in a way that, in a lot of circumstances, nothing else can, when it carries the Gospel with it,” says Bolin, president of Bolin Oil Company.
Patsy Bolin has a passion to mentor mothers with young children. She and other ladies in their church formed a Bible study 10 years ago for young moms.
“We have so many moms who didn’t have role models and have no idea how to raise their children,” Patsy says. “So they come to this Bible study, and hopefully we can teach them what the Bible says about how to raise your children.”
Perry Bolin’s father, the late W. Perry Bolin, started Bolin Oil Company in 1954. Bolin Oil held the Mobil Oil Company gas distributorship in Collin County for many years and currently holds long-term ground leases on stations across North Texas as well as other real estate ventures.
The Bolin family at one time also had a museum, which featured antiques from life in Collin County at the turn of the 20th century as well as the Bolin Wildlife Exhibit. The wildlife exhibit represents W. Perry Bolin’s lifetime collection of animals from all over the world, especially from his wild game hunting expeditions in Africa. The exhibit also contains African art and artifacts collected by the Bolin family over the years.
Several years ago, the family decided to donate parts of the museum to organizations in North Texas. They chose to give Southwestern the extensive collection from the wildlife exhibit. Members of the family responsible for the contribution include Perry and Patsy Bolin, Edna Bolin, Jim Hallman and Kathy Bolin Hallman, Blake Bolin, Clay Bolin, and Andrew Bolin.
Southwestern is grateful for the Bolin family’s ministry partnership. Through the Bolins and other faithful friends of the seminary, Southwestern is able to continue its mission of training men and women for Gospel ministry around the world.
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