The T.B. Maston Foundation will recognize a defender of democracy and a couple who have dedicated more than six decades to Baptist leadership on February 26 in Arlington, Texas.
Skye L. Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, will receive the 2026 T.B. Maston Award for Christian Ethics. Rosemary and Charles Wade, whose shared ministry has encompassed Oklahoma, Germany and Texas, will accept the first-ever T.B. Maston Legacy Award.
The Maston Foundation, chartered in 1986, perpetuates the teaching and legacy of its namesake, a renowned professor of Christian ethics and a 20th-century Baptist champion of racial justice. In addition to presenting awards, the foundation provides scholarships to graduate students majoring in Christian ethics. It also conducts retreats, including an annual one for undergraduate students, called Young Maston Scholars.
“The Maston Awards recognize the finest examples of applied Christian ethics—treating people as Jesus treated them—among Baptists,” noted David Morgan, the foundation’s executive director. “Not only do the awards honor recipients for faithful Christian living, but they also lift up models for how all Christians should behave.”
Perryman has led Democracy Forward—a nonpartisan organization that promotes democracy through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education and research—since 2021. Under her leadership, the organization has expanded the scope of its work and become a national leader in taking on the most significant issues facing individuals, families and communities.
Since early 2025, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in protecting the American people from illegal and harmful actions by the current administration. The American Bar Association has called Democracy Forward a “human rights hero of our time.”
Time magazine named Perryman one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2025. She has received numerous other honors, such as a Lifetime Award for the Pursuit of Justice from the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, being named one of the 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy by Washingtonian magazine, one of The NonProfit Times’ Power & Influence Top 50, and its 2025 Influencer of the Year.
Perryman was named a Woman to Watch by the New Republic, a Chuck F. C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year recipient, a Sissy Farenthold Social Justice Award recipient, a Harry S. Truman Scholar, a Baylor Line Foundation Outstanding Young Alumnus, and a four-time Rising Star in Litigation in Washington, D.C.
She grew up in Waco, Texas, and earned an undergraduate degree from Baylor University and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Perryman serves on the boards of the Interfaith Alliance, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, the Texas Observer, the Baylor Line Foundation and the Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. She is also on Good Faith Media’s governing board.
“Skye Perryman embodies a leader who recognizes and affirms the dignity and worth of persons.” Morgan said. “She combines a deep appreciation for people derived from Scripture with a passion and drive to ensure that laws protecting this dignity are followed. She is one who walks as Jesus walked.”
The Wades’ commitment to serving churches dates back to before they met. Charles Wade was a pastor’s child who also felt called to ministry. While still in high school, he was pastor of two small Oklahoma congregations and helped start a church in Woodward, Okla.
While a student at Oklahoma Baptist University, he served as pastor of Francis and Alex Baptist churches. Charles and Rosemary married while still at OBU, and she joined him in ministry to these congregations.
Later, he was a pastor, and they served Trinity Baptist Church in Baumholder, Germany; Central Baptist Church in Italy, Texas; First Baptist Church in Enid, Okla.; and First Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. After more than 23 years as pastor of the Arlington congregation, he was elected executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, a position he held from 2000 to 2008.
Rosemary Wade mothered their family; taught piano, elementary school and Sunday school; and exhibited the spiritual gift of hospitality by welcoming hundreds of people into the family home across the decades. She also served on the T.B. Maston Foundation board of directors.
In retirement, Charles Wade has been interim pastor of several congregations, adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University and pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Arlington.
Both of the Wades earned undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma Baptist University, and Charles earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. As a seminarian, he took the last class T.B. Maston taught, “Christian Ethics in Contemporary Society.” His doctoral dissertation was titled “An Inquiry into Black Theology: An Attempt at White Understanding.”
“Charles and Rosemary Wade embody the character of Jesus in their daily lives,” Morgan said. “Paul encouraged believers to be imitators of Jesus and offered himself as one example. Throughout their lifetimes and in many roles, they have offered yet another example of those who walk as Jesus walked.”
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