Phillips Theological Seminary
Approved by the University Senate for United Methodist ordination.
Phillips is in Tulsa, it is not a United Methodist school, and it is the only school on GBHEM's roster carrying University Senate Monitoring with Public Warning. That phrase should go to your board's registrar before you enrol, not after — GBHEM publishes the status but says nothing about what it means for a candidate part-way through a degree. Set against that: Phillips covers all nine ¶324.4 areas, seven in the universal core and two required of United Methodist students, which is better than any United Methodist school in this set.
The Discipline's requirements, at this school.
¶324.4 asks for nine areas of basic graduate theological study, three semester hours each, with a minimum of six hours in United Methodist studies. Not pass/fail. ¶335.3(d) asks for them again at full connection, so they cannot be put off.
University Senate standing
Approved, but on Senate Monitoring with Public Warning
GBHEM lists Phillips among the 24 Senate-approved non-UMC schools of theology, marked "**" — the page's own key: "Denotes institutions on University Senate Monitoring with Public Warning." Phillips is the only school on the current list carrying this mark. GBHEM's roster page says nothing further about what the warning means for a candidate or whether it affects satisfaction of ¶324.4. A separate GBHEM publication, the University Senate Guidelines, defines "Approved for listing with public warning" as a PUBLIC sub-category of continued approval — distinct from and less severe than "Not approved for listing" — so Phillips remains an approved school, not a disapproved one. Neither document states whether the warning depends on when a student enrolls or graduates, or changes anything about degree-completion for ordination purposes. That is a real gap in what GBHEM publishes, not an oversight in this summary — ask your Board of Ordained Ministry registrar directly.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Do online classes count?
No — no online or distance class here counts toward ¶324.4
GBHEM: no online or distance class at a Senate-approved non-UMC school counts toward ¶324.4, regardless of what the school offers. Phillips' own 2024–25 catalog confirms the same rule from its side: "United Methodist Church students enrolled in an ordination track degree program (MDiv or MAMC) are limited to 'in-residence' courses only and may not register for online distance education courses offered by any non-UMC Seminary, including Phillips, according to policies set by the University Senate of the United Methodist Church." This is the single most decision-changing fact on this page: Phillips is ATS-approved to deliver "Comprehensive (Half or More of a Degree)" by distance education, and a non-UMC student there can take the bulk of the MDiv online — a UMC ordination-track student cannot count any of it.
As of July 2026 · source ↗
Old Testament
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (3 hrs) is a required Phase I course for every MDiv student, no denomination distinction.
New Testament
Introduction to the New Testament (3 hrs) is a required Phase I course for every MDiv student, no denomination distinction.
Theology
Introduction to Theology (Phase I) and Constructive Theology (Phase II) are both fixed, specifically named required courses for every MDiv student regardless of denomination — 6 hours on their own, satisfying this area without needing anything UM-specific. DS 575 United Methodist Doctrine (3 hrs) is an ADDITIONAL, UMC-specific course a United Methodist student also takes — it fills the Phase II curriculum's generic 'advanced theology elective' slot for them specifically, and is counted under the um-studies row below rather than needed here.
Church history
History of Christianity I and II (6 hrs) are fixed, specifically named required Phase I courses for every MDiv student regardless of denomination, satisfying this area on their own. DS 550 United Methodist History (3 hrs) is an ADDITIONAL, UMC-specific course a United Methodist student also takes — it fills the Phase II curriculum's generic 'advanced History of Christianity elective' slot for them specifically, and is counted under the um-studies row below rather than needed here.
Mission of the church in the world
ET 525 Ethics, Culture, and the Mission of the Church is one of exactly three fixed, specifically named courses making up the Phase II 'Theology & Ethics' requirement (alongside Constructive Theology and an advanced theology elective) — required of every MDiv student, not a UMC-specific addition. The catalog's United Methodist Studies section also names this course for UM students, which corroborates but is not the basis for this row.
Evangelism
No course titled evangelism, and no 'Evangelism' slot, appears anywhere in the standard 81-hour MDiv's Phase I–III curriculum breakdown — the closest generic slot is an unrestricted 'Elective in this area' inside Faith & Public Discourse. The catalog's Requirements in Denominational Studies / United Methodist Studies sections are explicit that United Methodist ordination-track students specifically must take a course on evangelism, normally PL 725 The Church and Evangelism, in addition to their denominational-studies sequence. That binds United Methodist students to a named course the general MDiv core does not otherwise require.
Worship / liturgy
Worship (The Theology and Practice of Public Worship, 3 hrs) is a fixed, specifically named required Phase II course ('Practices of Theological Leadership') for every MDiv student, no denomination distinction.
Preaching
Preaching (3 hrs) is a fixed, specifically named required Phase II course ('Practices of Theological Leadership') for every MDiv student, no denomination distinction.
United Methodist studies (doctrine, polity, history)
The catalog's Requirements in Denominational Studies section states that United Methodist students are required to take DS 550 United Methodist History (3 hrs), DS 575 United Methodist Doctrine (3 hrs), and DS 625 United Methodist Polity (3 hrs) — three specifically named courses that exist as a requirement only because Phillips binds United Methodist ordination-track students to them; a Disciples, Presbyterian, Baptist, UCC, or Unitarian Universalist student fills the same generic curriculum slots with their own denomination's course instead. The three named UM courses sum to 9 semester-hours, above ¶324.4's 6-hour floor. Flag for your registrar: the same catalog section's introductory sentence states the United Methodist denominational-studies total as "12 semester-hours," which does not match the 9 hours the three named courses actually sum to. This discrepancy is in Phillips' own text; we did not resolve it by assumption — ask the registrar which figure is current.
As of October 2024 · source ↗
Every M.Div. student here takes the other 7. These 2 are required because you are a United Methodist on an ordination track, so they sit outside the courses the school schedules for everyone — which means nobody will schedule them for you. Name them early with your advisor, and confirm the choices with your board of ordained ministry registrar.
Confirm all of this with your conference’s Board of Ordained Ministry registrar before you enroll. They decide which courses satisfy which requirement — not the catalogue, and not us.
The faculty, by what they work on.
9 faculty, grouped by field rather than alphabetically — because the useful question is not who is here, it is who is here who works on the thing you care about.
New Testament
Church history
Lisa Barnett
Associate Professor of American Religious History
PhD in U.S. History, Texas Christian University
Recent work (4)
- Peyote Politics: The Making of the Native American Church, 1880–1937
- Border Policing: A History of Enforcement and Evasion in North America
- Religion in the North American West
- Oklahoma Women Lead the Way into the KKK
Pastoral care & counseling
Peter Capretto
Associate Professor of Psychology, Culture, and Religion
PhD, Vanderbilt University, 2019
Recent work (3)
- Beyond the Empathy Trap: Cultivating Freedom and Solidarity in an Ethic of Care
- Spiritual Direction and the Other: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Accompaniment
- Trauma and Transcendence: Suffering and the Limits of Theory
Black church studies
Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
Lisa W. Davison
Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible
PhD, Vanderbilt University
Recent work (5)
- Preaching the Women of the Bible
- More Than a Womb: Childfree Women as Agents of the Holy
- The Preacher's Bible Handbook
- Just Women Bible Study
- The Living Pulpit: Sermons that Illustrate Preaching in the Stone-Campbell Movement 1968–2018
Congregational leadership
Ethics & public theology
Wesleyan & Methodist studies
F. Douglas Powe Jr.
Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professor of Methodist Studies
PhD, Emory University, Graduate Division of Religion
Recent work (3)
- Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation
- The Adept Church: Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place
- Transforming Evangelism: The Wesleyan Way of Sharing Faith
Roster limited to Phillips' 9 core full-time faculty listed in its main "Faculty Directory" heading. The same page separately lists 6 emeritae/i professors and 4 "Adjunct and Affiliate Faculty" — including Trista Soendker Nicholson, an Affiliate Instructor of United Methodist Studies — which this roster deliberately omits per the core-full-time-only scope. Of the 9 core faculty, 7 (Barnett, Davison, Capretto, McCallie, Warren Carter, Arthur Carter, Powe) now have individual bio pages; the remaining 2 (Bessler, Utley) appear only as a name and title on the shared directory page — confirmed, not just unfound, by checking the directory page's own HTML for a missing link and by checking that neither name appears anywhere in the school's ~140-URL page sitemap.
Titles and fields are the school’s own; the grouping is ours. Where Phillips Theological Seminarypublishes a page for someone, it’s linked above as “Profile.” Professors answer email from prospective students more often than you would guess. Publication lists come from the school’s own annual listing ↗, are a selection rather than a full CV, and are only shown for people currently on the directory.
The degrees.
Master of Divinity
81 hrsThe ordination degree. A minimum of 24 of the 81 hours must be completed in residence in Tulsa or at a Phillips immersion, of which up to 12 may be met via synchronous Zoom — but a United Methodist ordination-track student is held to in-residence courses only, per University Senate policy, so that flexibility does not apply if you are a UMC candidate.
Master of Arts in Ministry and Culture
48 hrsA 48-hour alternative to the MDiv for ministry that doesn't require ordination's full degree; also carries the same in-residence-only restriction for UMC ordination-track students.
Master of Theological Studies
48 hrsGeneral Theological Studies or Pre-doctoral Theological Studies tracks; not an ordination degree.
Doctor of Ministry
30 hrsPhillips' own hybrid DMin is the clearest example on this page of how much online delivery it offers generally — none of which changes the MDiv/MAMC in-residence rule for UMC ordination-track students.
Phillips describes this explicitly as a hybrid program (online and on-campus).
Graduate Certificate Program
16 hrsPhillips states this "can be completed 100% online." Not a degree and not an ordination-relevant credential.
Money, plainly.
Tuition
$ 480.00 per credit hour (degree-seeking master's students)
81 semester-hours × this rate is roughly $38,880 in gross MDiv tuition before aid. General Student fee ($100/semester), Student Life fee ($25/semester), and course-specific fees (immersion trips, audits) are charged on top.
As of August 2025 · source ↗
Who gets aid
Flat tuition assistance to nearly every degree-seeking student, not a % applicant figure
Phillips does not publish a headline "% receiving aid" figure the way Perkins or Austin do. Instead it states a flat schedule: "DOC/UCC Students: 100% ... Underrepresented Groups: 100% ... All Other Students: 80%" tuition assistance for anyone in good academic standing across its five master's and DMin programs. Read literally, this is close to full or 80% tuition coverage for most enrolled students, before any named scholarship — an unusually generous baseline. Confirm current terms with Admissions before counting on it.
As of August 2025 · source ↗
Typical award
80% tuition assistance baseline for most students; 100% for Disciples/UCC-affiliated and underrepresented-group students
On top of the baseline, named awards exist: the Phillips Seminary Scholars Program sets aside one full-tuition-plus-stipend award specifically for a Methodist student (of eight total Scholars awards beginning fall 2025), and several other named fellowships (Matthew A. Thompson, Peake, FCC Tulsa I–III) cover full tuition, fees, and a stipend for a single qualifying student each year.
As of August 2025 · source ↗
Phillips' own numbers are unusually candid: it names the exact tuition-assistance percentage by category rather than an average award, and one Phillips Seminary Scholars slot is explicitly reserved for a Methodist student — worth asking Admissions about directly if you are UMC. It does not, however, publish a Ministerial Education Fund note or any UMC-specific denominational-aid statement beyond that one named award; ask your conference registrar what conference-level aid, if any, applies to a non-UMC Senate school.
Who this fits, and what to weigh.
- People in or near Tulsa for whom the nearest United Methodist school is a move rather than a drive.
- People who want the ordination areas covered by the curriculum rather than by their own planning.
- People who will actually make the registrar call about the Senate status before committing.
- Senate Monitoring with Public Warning is a real status and GBHEM does not explain its consequences. Ask your registrar in writing.
- Phillips markets substantial online and hybrid study, and none of it counts toward ¶324.4 for you. Its own catalogue says so; GBHEM's rule says so. Read both before you build a schedule around distance courses.
- Its catalogue states the United Methodist studies total as twelve semester hours while listing courses that sum to nine. Ask which figure is current.
- All nine areas are covered — the only school here where that is true.
- Phillips itself limits United Methodist ordination-track students to in-residence courses, independently reaching the same conclusion GBHEM's rule requires.
- Tuition assistance is unusually plain: 80% for students in good standing, 100% for Disciples- and UCC-affiliated students.
- President F. Douglas Powe Jr. holds the Mouzon Biggs, Jr. Professorship of Methodist Studies.
Send one email this week.
Not an application — an email. Pick the professor above whose field is closest to what you cannot stop thinking about, and ask them what they are working on. Then ask admissions to sit in on one class. Both are free, and both tell you more than a brochure will.
Everything on this page was checked against the school’s own published material on August 7, 2026. Costs and curricula change every year — the source link beside each fact is the one that stays current.