January 27, 2025
Generous gifts from Mississippi church and Renewal organization will support future GMC students
January 27, 2025—President Andy Miller III announced two recent donations to the seminary for endowed scholarships today that will help to ensure the continued mission of WBS to develop trusted leaders for faithful churches.
Thomas L. Cooley Endowed Scholarship
Amory First Global Methodist Church in Amory, Mississippi donated $60,000 to establish the Thomas L. Cooley endowed scholarship. Pastor Wesley Pepper stated, “We are excited to be a part of what God is doing at this moment in the history of the church, and we are also excited for what God will do in the future. Our church council voted to establish this fund because we want to be a part of training up leaders for the next generation of our church, and we have great confidence in Wesley Biblical Seminary as a partner in that endeavor.”
President Miller, Thomas Cooley, and Rev. Wesley Pepper.
The scholarship will be designated to support candidates for ministry in the Global Methodist Church, with preference given to those in Amory’s conference. Since joining the GMC, Rev. Pepper stated, the church has experienced increased vitality in ministry, including new professions of faith, increasing their ability to support missional giving.
The endowment is named in honor of Thomas L. Cooley, a long-time volunteer treasurer for the church and a retired school teacher and superintendent. “Thomas is a devout follower of Jesus and a faithful member and hard-working volunteer in the church,” Rev. Pepper stated.
Charles W. Keysor Good News Scholarship
The publishers of Good News Magazine donated $50,000 to establish the Charles W. Keysor Good News endowed scholarship, to be awarded to a student pursuing ministry in the Global Methodist Church.
Good News was established in 1967 as a classical evangelical witness and ministry for renewal and reform within The United Methodist Church, with a mission to lead all people within The United Methodist Church to the faithful and vibrant practice of orthodox Wesleyan Christianity. WBS was established at close to the same time, with a similar goal to be a faithful witness to the message of Scriptural holiness.
“Having successfully worked for the renewal of Methodism, which is now occurring in the Global Methodist Church, Good News celebrates the completion of their mission and honors their first president, Charles W. Keysor, with this gift,” the organization stated.
Rev. Charles Keysor, first president of Good News
A Methodist pastor in Elgin, Illinois, Keysor published the first issue of the digest-size magazine for Methodist evangelicals out of the basement of his parsonage, according to the Good News website. Serving as a rallying point for champions of biblical Wesleyanism, the Good News movement gave them hope that they were not alone and made them stronger together.
This scholarship is one of the many ways the legacy of Good News will continue for generations to come, by enabling future leaders to be trained in an environment saturated with classic Wesleyan theology and firmly anchored in the inerrancy of the Word of God. Good News has encouraged donors to add to this endowment fund as well as those established at other GMC approved seminaries.
“WBS is an independent seminary serving many denominations and networks across the Wesleyan, Methodist, and Holiness traditions, who share our commitment to the Spirit and the Word of God, including the Global Methodist Church,” said President Miller. “It is a great honor for us to be among the recommended seminaries of the GMC. We have been so encouraged to see how local churches, districts, conferences, and organizations related to the GMC are committing resources to support seminary students, which is vital for the doctrinal steadfastness and missional vibrancy of the denomination and the broader movement for the generations to come.”
To learn more about partnering with WBS, visit wbs.edu/donate.