Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OKWU) and Wesley Biblical Seminary (WBS) announced a new cooperative partnership promoting the mission and expanding the reach of both institutions. The first step will be for WBS to offer the Master of Divinity degree at OKWU’s Tulsa Center beginning August 2017.
Dr. Everett Piper, president of OKWU, and Dr. John Neihof, president of WBS, announced the partnership on Friday, February 10, at a chapel service on the OKWU campus in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The Association of Theological Schools, WBS’s accrediting body, has approved Tulsa as an extension site for WBS, which is now completing the necessary steps for authorization by the State of Oklahoma. The second phase of the partnership will be for OKWU to launch an undergraduate degree-completion program for ministry on WBS’s Jackson, Mississippi, campus beginning in the fall of 2018. This program will provide a much-needed educational resource for pastoral training and theological education.
As sister institutions, OKWU and WBS have much in common. A number of OKWU alumni have received master’s degrees at WBS and five WBS alumni now serve on the faculty or administration of OKWU. Both institutions have a Wesleyan heritage, share a common view of their mission, scriptural authority, and human liberty, and both reach out to the broader evangelical church.
“Wesley Biblical Seminary is thrilled to partner with Oklahoma Wesleyan University in advancing our mutual commitment to the authority of Scripture, God’s call to holy living, and excellence in ministerial preparation,” said Dr. Neihof.
