WBS Inaugurates Ninth President

Dr. Andy Miller III was inaugurated Oct. 10, 2024 as WBS continues to celebrate its 50th year

Dr. Andy Miller III was inaugurated as President of Wesley Biblical Seminary at ceremonies held Oct. 10, 2024, at Madison Methodist Church outside Jackson, Mississippi. Miller is the ninth president to lead WBS, which is in its fiftieth year of developing trusted leaders for faithful churches through biblical and theological education.

Previously, Dr. Miller served as academic dean of WBS. After many years of service in the Salvation Army, Miller is now an elder in the Global Methodist Church. He recently served as a delegate to its convening General Conference, where he was elected to its Commission on Ministry and Higher Education.

Miller’s presidential address, entitled “Fan the Flame,” focused on the opportunities before the seminary to increase its impact through its recent growth to record enrollment levels, and the influential position WBS is taking in new expressions of Methodism. Miller credited these opportunities to the faithfulness of previous generations who held fast to their commitments to Scripture and to the message of holiness even when it was difficult or unpopular. “We did not start this fire—it has been going since the fire of Pentecost,” declared Miller. “It is rooted in the fire of our Triune God, who is actively engaged in this world and is calling us to participate in it. We have the joy of fanning that flame.”

Dr. Timothy C. Tennent, former president and current professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, delivered the presidential charge, urging Dr. Miller and the WBS family to remain faithful in handing down the gospel of Jesus Christ just as it had been received. “What a great moment you are in, at the renewal of the Methodist movement in our day,” said Tennent. “Dr. Miller, lead that movement, and never forget who you are as a seminary.”

Bishops Scott Jones of the Global Methodist Church, John Mark Richardson of the Churches of God in Christ, and Robert Langat of the Africa Gospel Church participated in prayers of consecration. Their presence was representative of the broad reach of WBS across denominational, racial, and international lines to serve churches in the broad Wesleyan movement around the world.

David Chandler, chair of the WBS board, presented Miller with heirlooms of the seminary, including a Bible that belonged to founding president Ivan Howard; a walking stick hand-crafted by seventh president John Neihof; and the presidential medallion featuring the seal and motto of the seminary, “Sanctitas et Scriptura,” or holiness and Scripture. These heirlooms represent the ongoing commitment of WBS to the inerrancy of the Bible and the walk in the Spirit emphasized in Wesleyan theology.

Dr. John Oswalt, WBS professor emeritus and board member, hosted the ceremony and led the congregation in the Wesley Covenant prayer, emphasizing that the event was not only to inaugurate Dr. Miller but to encourage the entire WBS family of faculty, students, alumni, and supporters to remain faithful to the cause of Christ. Major Andy Miller, Jr. of the Salvation Army, President Miller’s father, closed the evening with a moving prayer for all people to experience the sanctifying grace of God’s presence.

Wesley Biblical Seminary was founded in 1974 as an independent school to provide graduate theological education to Christian leaders. Headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, the online learning platform of the seminary enables it to serve students from any location. In recent years it has grown significantly in enrollment, in part due to being the first approved institution for the Global Methodist Church. The hundreds of men and women making up its alumni body serve in dozens of denominations and in over 50 nations around the world.

For further information visit http://wbs.edu or contact Ken Roach, Director of Communications, [email protected].

Watch the inauguration ceremony in its entirety on the WBS YouTube channel.