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Leawood, KS

Saint Paul School of Theology

One of the thirteen United Methodist schools of theology.

Saint Paul runs two campuses, in Leawood, Kansas and in Oklahoma City, and the degree plan and tuition are identical at both. What is not identical is who is there: eight of the ten core faculty work from the Kansas campus and two from Oklahoma. If you are choosing between them for in-person study, you are choosing between the same degree taught by very different numbers of people. Seven of the nine ¶324.4 areas are in the required core, which is strong — and unusually, evangelism and worship are among them.

Where this leaves you

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 — a United Methodist school

One of the 13 United Methodist schools of theology. GBHEM lists it as "Saint Paul School of Theology (Kansas and Oklahoma)" — the roster itself names both campuses as one approved school, not two.

As of July 2026 · source ↗

Do online classes count?

Yes — a fully online M.Div. here meets the requirement

GBHEM: all thirteen United Methodist schools of theology are approved to provide a fully online M.Div. that meets UM ordination requirements. Saint Paul's own catalog independently confirms its MDiv is offered in "asynchronous online, synchronous online, hybrid, and on-campus" formats, with courses of every format accepted toward the same 79-credit degree.

As of July 2026 · source ↗

The nine areas

Old Testament

In the core

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (HBS 301) and an Upper-Level Hebrew Bible course (HBS 4**) are both required lines in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table, for every student.

New Testament

In the core

Introduction to the New Testament (NTS 301) and an Upper-Level New Testament course (NTS 4**) are both required lines in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table, for every student.

Theology

In the core

Introduction to Systematic Theology (THL 301) and an Upper-Level Theology course (THL 4**) are both required lines in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table, for every student.

Church history

In the core

Traditions I and Traditions II (HST 301, HST 302) are both required lines in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table, for every student.

Mission of the church in the world

Elective — you must choose it

No course on this subject is a required line in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table. "Mission of the Church in the Contemporary World" (CHS 330) and "Mission of the Church in the World" (CHS 355) are real courses, but they sit inside the degree's 13.5-hour unrestricted-elective pool ("Electives (may include Denominational Studies)"). The table's only mention of it for United Methodist students is a footnote — "United Methodist students may be expected to take approved courses in ... Mission of the Church" — advisory language ("may be expected," directing the student to "check with their appropriate judicatories for specific course requirements"), not a Saint Paul-stated obligation the way Duke's or Phillips' bulletins state theirs. Scored elective rather than required-umc-track on that basis; see the harvest report for the judgment call.

Evangelism

In the core

Evangelism (EVN 3**) is a required line in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table for every student, regardless of denomination — notably, Saint Paul does not treat this as UMC-specific the way Duke and Phillips do.

Worship / liturgy

In the core

Worship (WOR 301) is a required line in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table for every student, regardless of denomination.

Preaching

In the core

Introduction to Preaching (PRE 401) is a required line in the MDiv Curricular Requirements table for every student.

United Methodist studies (doctrine, polity, history)

Elective — you must choose it

UM History and the Arc of Justice (DST 310), United Methodist Doctrine (DST 311), and United Methodist Polity (DST 330) are real, named courses — but they sit in the same 13.5-hour unrestricted-elective pool as Mission of the Church, not in the required core. The catalog's own language is the same advisory footnote as above: "United Methodist students may be expected to take approved courses in UM History, Polity and Doctrine..." — "may be expected" and "should check with their appropriate judicatories," not a stated Saint Paul requirement. Compare Perkins, scored elective on nearly identical permissive language ("may include United Methodist Studies"), against Duke and Phillips, scored required-umc-track on binding language ("must fulfill," "required to take"). If a UM student takes DST 311 (3 hrs) and DST 330 (2 hrs), that alone clears ¶324.4's 6-hour UM-studies floor; DST 320 (UM History, 2–3 hrs) is a third named course in the same pool.

As of August 2025 · source ↗

2 of 9 need you to plan for them

Seven of the nine ¶324.4 areas are in Saint Paul's required MDiv core, including evangelism and worship — areas several other UMC schools leave to UM-specific tracks or electives. The two areas not in the core are mission of the church and United Methodist studies (history, doctrine, polity) itself, which the catalog names as real, specific courses (CHS 330/355 for mission; DST 310/311/330 for UM studies) but places entirely inside the degree's unrestricted-elective pool, with only an advisory footnote pointing United Methodist students toward them.

Nothing forces a student to choose those specific electives, and the catalog explicitly punts the specific-course question to "your appropriate judicatories" rather than answering it itself. Plan the 13.5 elective hours with UM doctrine, UM polity, and mission of the church in mind from the start, and confirm the exact course choices with your conference's Board of Ordained Ministry registrar — Saint Paul's own wording is deliberately non-committal about which electives satisfy your board.

United Methodist Doctrine (DST 311, 3 hrs) and United Methodist Polity (DST 330, 2 hrs) alone clear ¶324.4's 6-semester-hour UM-studies floor; add UM History and the Arc of Justice (DST 310, 3 hrs) or Mission of the Church in the World (CHS 355, 2 hrs) from the same elective pool and you've covered both remaining areas without adding to the 79-credit total.

See the school's page ↗

Saint Paul's Master of Arts in Christian Ministry offers a dedicated UM Studies specialization (Evangelism, Worship, Mission of the Church, UM Doctrine, UM Polity, UM History — 16 credit hours) built explicitly to satisfy the Advanced Course of Study / deacon-track requirement. It is not the MDiv, but its course list is the clearest evidence of exactly which Saint Paul courses the school itself maps to the nine ¶324.4 areas.

See the school's page ↗

Ask the Saint Paul Registrar for the current MDiv degree-progress tracking form, and ask your conference's Board of Ordained Ministry registrar which specific electives they will accept for mission of the church and UM studies. The catalog explicitly defers this decision to your judicatory rather than naming it itself — they make the call, not the catalogue and not us.

See the school's page ↗

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.

Who teaches here

The faculty, by what they work on.

10 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.

Systematic theology

  • Nancy R. Howell

    Professor of Theology and Philosophy of Religion

    B.S., College of William and Mary

    Recent work (5)
    • "Engaging Indigenous Epistemology, Decolonizing the Western Worldview," Religious Studies Review (2023)
    • "Scientific Data, Ecological Conversion, and Transformative Affect," HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 77, no. 3 (2021)
    • "Lessons from the Breakroom," in Open and Relational Leadership: Leading with Love (2020)
    • "Have You Ever Wondered What It's Like to Be a Chimpanzee?" in Putting Philosophy to Work: Toward an Ecological Civilization (2018)
    • "God and Nature," in Gender: God, Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks (2017)

    Profile ↗

  • Kristen E. Kvam

    Professor of Theology

    B.A., St. Olaf College

    Recent work (5)
    • "For Such a Time: A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment" (ELCA policy statement), Dialog: A Journal of Theology 58, no. 3 (September 2019): 171–172
    • "Kris Kvam on the Psalms and Feminism," interview by Susan Sink, Bear!ngs Online (February 1, 2019)
    • Guest editor with Kirsi Stjerna, Dialog: A Journal of Theology, theme issue "Body, Gender, and Justice," 57, no. 3 (September 2018)
    • "Preface to the Psalter," in The Annotated Luther, Vol. 6: The Interpretation of Scripture (Augsburg Fortress Press, 2017): 202–212
    • "God's Heart Revealed in Eden: Luther on the Character of God and the Vocation of Humanity," in Transformative Lutheran Theologies (Fortress Press, 2010)

    Profile ↗

  • Elaine A. Robinson

    Professor of Methodist Studies and Christian Theology

    B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder

    Recent work (5)
    • Leading with Love: Spiritual Disciplines for Practical Leadership (Fortress, 2023)
    • Introduction to Theology for Ministry (Foundery Books, 2017)
    • Exploring Theology, Fortress Foundations for Learning Series (Fortress Press, 2014)
    • Race and Theology (Abingdon Press)
    • Godbearing: Evangelism Reconceived (Pilgrim Press, 2006)

    Profile ↗

New Testament

  • Sharon Betsworth

    Professor of Biblical Studies

    B.A. (German, History), Luther College

    Recent work (4)
    • Sharon Betsworth and Julie Faith Parker, "'Where Have All the Young Girls Gone?' Discovering the Girls of the Bible through Childist Analysis of Exodus 2 and Mark 5–7," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 38, no. 2 (Fall 2022)
    • "The Child Snatched Away: Reading Revelation Through a Childist Lens," Biblical Interpretation 28 (2020)
    • "Narrative Criticism and Childist Interpretation," in Children and Methods: Listening To and Learning From Children in the Biblical World (2020)
    • Sharon Betsworth and Julie Faith Parker, eds., T&T Clark Handbook of Children in the Bible and Biblical World (2019)

    Profile ↗

  • Israel Kamudzandu

    Lindsey P. Pherigo Associate Professor of New Testament Studies and Biblical Interpretation

    Diploma in Education, University of Zimbabwe

    Recent work (5)
    • Translation(s) as Incarnation: A Global South Reading and Interpretation of the Bible and Hymns (Wipf & Stock, 2023)
    • Multiethnicity and the Gospel: A Postcolonial Interpretation of Romans (Fortress Press, forthcoming)
    • "Hermeneutics – Biblical Interpretation, Ancient and Modern Methods," in Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology (2013)
    • Abraham Our Father: Paul and Ancestors in Postcolonial Africa (Fortress Press, 2013)
    • Abraham as a Spiritual Ancestor: A Postcolonial Zimbabwean Reading of Romans 4 (Brill, 2010)

    Profile ↗

Wesleyan & Methodist studies

  • Benjamin L. Hartley

    Professor of Methodist Studies and Mission

    M.Div., cum laude (Church History, Urban Ministry concentrations), Boston University

    Recent work (5)
    • John R. Mott and the Collaborative Crafting of a World Christian Movement (Cornell University Press, forthcoming 2028)
    • "John R. Mott at War and the Consequences for Internationalism" in The Young Ecumenical Movement under Pressure (Campus Verlag, forthcoming 2026)
    • "Pragmatic Christian Internationalist: John R. Mott's Negotiation of Nationalisms and Racism, 1895-1925," in The Young Ecumenical Movement (Brill, 2025)
    • "John R. Mott Amidst the Students: Historical and Missiological Gleanings for Today," Missiology: An International Review 53(1) (2025)
    • "The Problem and Promise of the Diaconate," in Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America (Regnum Books International, 2024)

    Profile ↗

  • Elaine A. Robinson

    Professor of Methodist Studies and Christian Theology

    B.A., University of Colorado, Boulder

    Recent work (5)
    • Leading with Love: Spiritual Disciplines for Practical Leadership (Fortress, 2023)
    • Introduction to Theology for Ministry (Foundery Books, 2017)
    • Exploring Theology, Fortress Foundations for Learning Series (Fortress Press, 2014)
    • Race and Theology (Abingdon Press)
    • Godbearing: Evangelism Reconceived (Pilgrim Press, 2006)

    Profile ↗

World Christianity

  • Benjamin L. Hartley

    Professor of Methodist Studies and Mission

    M.Div., cum laude (Church History, Urban Ministry concentrations), Boston University

    Recent work (5)
    • John R. Mott and the Collaborative Crafting of a World Christian Movement (Cornell University Press, forthcoming 2028)
    • "John R. Mott at War and the Consequences for Internationalism" in The Young Ecumenical Movement under Pressure (Campus Verlag, forthcoming 2026)
    • "Pragmatic Christian Internationalist: John R. Mott's Negotiation of Nationalisms and Racism, 1895-1925," in The Young Ecumenical Movement (Brill, 2025)
    • "John R. Mott Amidst the Students: Historical and Missiological Gleanings for Today," Missiology: An International Review 53(1) (2025)
    • "The Problem and Promise of the Diaconate," in Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America (Regnum Books International, 2024)

    Profile ↗

  • Israel Kamudzandu

    Lindsey P. Pherigo Associate Professor of New Testament Studies and Biblical Interpretation

    Diploma in Education, University of Zimbabwe

    Recent work (5)
    • Translation(s) as Incarnation: A Global South Reading and Interpretation of the Bible and Hymns (Wipf & Stock, 2023)
    • Multiethnicity and the Gospel: A Postcolonial Interpretation of Romans (Fortress Press, forthcoming)
    • "Hermeneutics – Biblical Interpretation, Ancient and Modern Methods," in Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology (2013)
    • Abraham Our Father: Paul and Ancestors in Postcolonial Africa (Fortress Press, 2013)
    • Abraham as a Spiritual Ancestor: A Postcolonial Zimbabwean Reading of Romans 4 (Brill, 2010)

    Profile ↗

Religion & science

  • Nancy R. Howell

    Professor of Theology and Philosophy of Religion

    B.S., College of William and Mary

    Recent work (5)
    • "Engaging Indigenous Epistemology, Decolonizing the Western Worldview," Religious Studies Review (2023)
    • "Scientific Data, Ecological Conversion, and Transformative Affect," HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 77, no. 3 (2021)
    • "Lessons from the Breakroom," in Open and Relational Leadership: Leading with Love (2020)
    • "Have You Ever Wondered What It's Like to Be a Chimpanzee?" in Putting Philosophy to Work: Toward an Ecological Civilization (2018)
    • "God and Nature," in Gender: God, Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks (2017)

    Profile ↗

Womanist & feminist theology

  • Kristen E. Kvam

    Professor of Theology

    B.A., St. Olaf College

    Recent work (5)
    • "For Such a Time: A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment" (ELCA policy statement), Dialog: A Journal of Theology 58, no. 3 (September 2019): 171–172
    • "Kris Kvam on the Psalms and Feminism," interview by Susan Sink, Bear!ngs Online (February 1, 2019)
    • Guest editor with Kirsi Stjerna, Dialog: A Journal of Theology, theme issue "Body, Gender, and Justice," 57, no. 3 (September 2018)
    • "Preface to the Psalter," in The Annotated Luther, Vol. 6: The Interpretation of Scripture (Augsburg Fortress Press, 2017): 202–212
    • "God's Heart Revealed in Eden: Luther on the Character of God and the Vocation of Humanity," in Transformative Lutheran Theologies (Fortress Press, 2010)

    Profile ↗

Hebrew Bible / Old Testament

  • Richard Liantonio

    Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible

    Recent work (2)
    • With Lifted Head and Shining Face: A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Metaphors for Happiness in the Psalms and Ancient Near Eastern Literature (under contract, Pickwick Publications)
    • Review of The JPS Bible Commentary: Psalms 120–150, by Adele Berlin, Journal of Jewish Studies 75.2 (October 2025)

    Profile ↗

Church history

  • Jacob R. Randolph

    Assistant Professor of History of Christianity

    B.A. in Religion, Oklahoma Baptist University

    Recent work (3)
    • "Teaching the Faith and Fomenting Contempt in the Reformation," The Anxious Bench (September 20, 2024)
    • "Playing for God: The American Play Movement and Missionary Education in the Early Twentieth Century," Fides et Historia 55 (2024): 55–74
    • "A Method to the Madness? Chivalry, Propaganda, and Cultural Memory in the Anabaptist Kingdom of Münster," Church History and Religious Culture 103 (2023): 180–205

    Profile ↗

Preaching

  • Casey Sigmon

    Associate Professor of Preaching & Worship

    B.A. in Theater and Film, University of Kansas

    Recent work (5)
    • Engaging the Gadfly: How to Move from Reactionary to Reflective Hybrid, Online, and In Person Preaching in the Digital Age (Wipf & Stock; Cascade Books, 2025)
    • "How to Start Designing Worship from a Process Perspective," in Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God (SacraSage Press, 2024)
    • "The Courage to Preach in the Digital Age," Religions, special issue on preaching and digital technology (2023)
    • "Failure to Discern the Online/Hybrid Body: A Captivity of the Eucharist," Currents in Theology and Mission (2023)
    • "Blessed is the One Whose Bowels Can Move: An Essay in Praise of Lament," Religions, contemporary Christian worship issue (2022)

    Profile ↗

Liturgy & worship

  • Casey Sigmon

    Associate Professor of Preaching & Worship

    B.A. in Theater and Film, University of Kansas

    Recent work (5)
    • Engaging the Gadfly: How to Move from Reactionary to Reflective Hybrid, Online, and In Person Preaching in the Digital Age (Wipf & Stock; Cascade Books, 2025)
    • "How to Start Designing Worship from a Process Perspective," in Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God (SacraSage Press, 2024)
    • "The Courage to Preach in the Digital Age," Religions, special issue on preaching and digital technology (2023)
    • "Failure to Discern the Online/Hybrid Body: A Captivity of the Eucharist," Currents in Theology and Mission (2023)
    • "Blessed is the One Whose Bowels Can Move: An Essay in Praise of Lament," Religions, contemporary Christian worship issue (2022)

    Profile ↗

Ethics & public theology

  • Aaron Stauffer

    Assistant Professor of Social Ethics and Community Leadership

    M.Div. in Interreligious and Ecumenical Studies, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

    Recent work (3)
    • Listening to the Spirit: The Radical Social Gospel, Sacred Values, and Broad-based Community Organizing (Oxford University Press, 2024)
    • "Under-Connected: Building Relational Power, Solidarity, and Developing Leaders in Broad-Based Community Organizing," Religions 16, no. 5 (2025)
    • "Power in the Social Gospel: Howard Kester, Claude Williams and the Southern Tenant Farmers Union," Religions 15, no. 9 (2024)

    Profile ↗

Congregational leadership

  • Aaron Stauffer

    Assistant Professor of Social Ethics and Community Leadership

    M.Div. in Interreligious and Ecumenical Studies, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

    Recent work (3)
    • Listening to the Spirit: The Radical Social Gospel, Sacred Values, and Broad-based Community Organizing (Oxford University Press, 2024)
    • "Under-Connected: Building Relational Power, Solidarity, and Developing Leaders in Broad-Based Community Organizing," Religions 16, no. 5 (2025)
    • "Power in the Social Gospel: Howard Kester, Claude Williams and the Southern Tenant Farmers Union," Religions 15, no. 9 (2024)

    Profile ↗

Limited to Saint Paul's 10 named full-time faculty on its current directory page ("Full-Time Faculty" heading); the same page separately lists a Rabbi-in-Residence, a Visiting Assistant Professor, 9 adjunct faculty, and 7 emeritus/emerita faculty, all excluded here per the core-full-time-only scope this project uses for every school. Of the 10, each has an individual bio page (all linked below). Campus assignment is not published by Saint Paul as a declared roster field; it is inferred here from each person's own direct office phone line and address on their own bio page (a 913 Leawood, KS line vs. a 405 Oklahoma City, OK line) — 8 of 10 core faculty carry a Kansas-campus line (Betsworth, Hartley, Howell, Kamudzandu, Kvam, Liantonio, Sigmon, Stauffer); 2 carry an Oklahoma-campus line (Randolph, explicitly titled 'Academic Director of the Oklahoma Campus,' and Robinson). A student choosing to attend in person at the Oklahoma City site specifically, rather than online or at Leawood, would meet a noticeably smaller in-person faculty than at the Kansas Campus — the MDiv curriculum is identical either way (see ordination/degrees notes), but who teaches it in person is not evenly split.

Titles and fields are the school’s own; the grouping is ours. Where Saint Paul School of Theologypublishes 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.

What you would study

The degrees.

Master of Divinity

79 hrs

79 credit hours: contextual education and formation components (orientation, spiritual formation retreats, ministry practica, collaboration groups, mid-degree and summative seminars), Hebrew Bible, New Testament, ethics, Christian religious education, church history, systematic theology, church leadership, pastoral care, preaching, worship, church and society, world religions, and evangelism, plus 13.5 unrestricted elective hours. One curriculum, one credit total, one tuition rate — offered identically at the Kansas Campus (Leawood), the Oklahoma Campus (Oklahoma City), and via distance education; the catalog names no campus-specific requirement, course list, or price.

3 years full-time; up to 10 calendar years allowed

Details ↗

Master of Arts in Christian Ministry

38 hrs

The academic path to deacon ordination (or Advanced Course of Study) in the United Methodist Church. Students choose a specialization; the UM Studies specialization (Evangelism, Worship, Mission of the Church, UM Doctrine, UM Polity, UM History — 16 credit hours) is built explicitly to satisfy the deacon/ACOS educational requirement.

2 years full-time; up to 8 calendar years allowed

Details ↗

Master of Arts (Theological Studies)

38 hrs

Not an ordination degree — a thesis-culminating academic degree in religion and theology.

2 years full-time

Details ↗

Doctor of Ministry

30 hrs

For MDiv holders with substantial ministerial leadership experience; a collaborative-focus model with no electives once a focus is chosen.

3–6 years

Details ↗

M.Div. concentrations:Social Justice and Advocacy (MDiv specialization)Spirituality and Prophetic Leadership (MDiv specialization)Women, Society, and Church Studies (MDiv specialization)Modern Worship Music (MACM specialization)Prophetic Witness and Service (MACM specialization)UM Studies (MACM specialization)
What it costs

Money, plainly.

Tuition

$685 per credit hour (MDiv, MATS, and MACM); $685 per credit hour (DMin)

2025–2026 rate. This is a single, flat rate — the catalog states no separate rate for the Kansas Campus, the Oklahoma Campus, or online delivery. 79 credit hours × this rate is roughly $54,115 in gross MDiv tuition before aid.

As of August 2025 · source ↗

Typical award

The "Each One, Reach One" scholarship: 50% off tuition, automatic for every admitted degree-seeking student, for the duration of the degree

Saint Paul's own phrasing: "Every admitted degree-seeking student who plans to enroll at Saint Paul will receive a scholarship of 50% off (tuition only) for the duration of their degree program." No separate published percentage of applicants who receive aid — this is a universal award, not a subset figure.

As of August 2026 · source ↗

Fees, on top of tuition
  • Application fee (master's level)$50 one-time
  • Application fee (DMin)$60 one-time
  • Transcript fee$10 per transcript ($25 if expedited)
Named scholarships
  • Advance Course of Study Award A need-based award tied specifically to the Advanced Course of Study — the GBHEM-defined path by which a UMC licensed local pastor completes the graduate theological studies required for provisional membership and ordination as an elder. Saint Paul's own page: students' application to Saint Paul "acts as the application for the scholarship," with no separate form. The clearest named, UMC-ordination-track-specific aid this school publishes.
  • Fellows Program (Full Tuition Scholarship) A full-time tuition scholarship for master's students entering in the fall semester, covering three years of tuition plus books and educational fees. Saint Paul's own financial-aid page does not state a United Methodist-candidacy eligibility requirement for this award (a secondary aggregator site names it the "Presidential Fellows Scholarship" and claims a candidacy requirement; that claim could not be verified on spst.edu itself and is not repeated here — see harvest report).

The 50% Each One, Reach One award is automatic and unconditional on admission, which is unusually generous as a baseline — but it is also the ceiling for most students; Saint Paul's other named awards (General Scholarships, Named Endowed Scholarships) are reviewed from undergraduate transcripts after acceptance, not guaranteed. Ask the Financial Aid Office directly whether UMC candidacy status affects eligibility for any award beyond the Advance Course of Study Award named above; the public pages don't say either way for the MDiv itself.

Where you would be

Place, and what else is within reach.

host university

Oklahoma City University

Saint Paul's Oklahoma Campus operates on OCU's campus (Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel); Saint Paul students, faculty, and staff there use OCU's Dulaney-Browne Library and are subject to OCU policy for IRB review and campus conduct. A "Three Plus Three" pathway lets an OCU Religion major finish a bachelor's in three years and move directly into the Saint Paul MDiv without relocating.

More ↗

host university

Church of the Resurrection

Saint Paul's Kansas Campus occupies Building C on the Church of the Resurrection campus in Leawood, KS — a United Methodist congregation, not a university, hosting the school's other physical location.

More ↗

cross registration

Kansas City Association of Theological Schools (KCATS)

Full-time master's students may cross-register for up to six elective credit hours at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, or Nazarene Theological Seminary. Flagged exception: the KCATS schools' own agreement excludes United Methodist denominational studies from cross-registration, so this route cannot be used to close the UM-studies gap above.

More ↗

If you are a licensed local pastor

Saint Paul operates the United Methodist Church Course of Study School under GBHEM — all 20 required courses, offered multiple times a year in a 7-week online format — for licensed local pastors, plus the Advanced Course of Study for those seeking provisional membership and ordination as an elder.

Course of Study at Saint Paul School of Theology

An honest read

Who this fits, and what to weigh.

Fits if
  • People already serving in Kansas, Oklahoma, or the region who need a degree that travels with them.
  • Licensed local pastors moving toward ordination, for whom the Course of Study connection and the Advance award both matter.
  • People who want evangelism and worship handled by the core rather than assembled from electives.
Weigh that
  • United Methodist studies and mission of the church sit in the 13.5 hours of unrestricted electives. Saint Paul's catalogue says United Methodist students 'may be expected' to take them and refers you to your judicatory — that is a pointer, not a requirement.
  • If you plan to attend in person in Oklahoma City, ask which courses are taught there by whom, and how often. The degree plan is the same; the faculty present are not.
  • The 50% automatic award is generous as a floor and is also, for most students, the ceiling.
Worth knowing
  • Evangelism and worship are required of every M.Div. student, not left to United Methodist students or to electives — rare in this set.
  • One curriculum, one tuition rate, two campuses, plus a distance-education route.
  • The 'Each One, Reach One' award is an automatic 50% tuition scholarship for every admitted degree-seeking student.
  • The Advance Course of Study Award is tied specifically to licensed local pastors pursuing elder's orders.
Your next step

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 6, 2026. Costs and curricula change every year — the source link beside each fact is the one that stays current.