My wife, Susan, wishes to acknowledge my seventy-sixth birthday, and she has spent a lot of time gathering information about each decade of my life. This post is to make that information available to those who may be interested. Susan and I have been married now for nine years, and I deeply love and appreciate her. She is a priceless gift to me from God.
76 Years Lived for the Lord
The First Decade
- Daniel Lee Segraves was born on October 29, 1946, the first and only child of Glen and Agnes Segraves. He was born in their home at 4318 N. Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri.
- The family moved to Wood River, Illinois, where Agnes attended a United Pentecostal Church. She had been baptized at age 13 by L. D. Segraves in Hornersville, MO. At this time, Glen was not serving the Lord although he had been raised in church. His father, L. D. Segraves, had pastored the Apostolic Assembly of Jesus Christ in Kennett, MO since 1943. It was a thriving church that witnessed many miracles, signs, and wonders. In a 9-week revival in 1948, 223 were baptized and 150 were filled with the Holy Ghost. Among those were Billy and Bobby McCool, Norman and Mac Luna, and Carl and Ola Denny.
- The family moved to Clarkton, MO when Dan was 5 years old. Here Glen Segraves surrendered his life to the Lord. He expressed his appreciation to George Arnold for helping him to make this life changing decision. This was also where Dan began his formal education in the first grade. He then attended the second and one half of the third grade in Holcomb, MO.
- In 1953, Glen Segraves was elected as the pastor of First Pentecostal Church in Rector, Arkansas. Dan attended school there through the seventh grade.
- Chuck Gray (Sunnyside Gospel Singers) gave the family an old upright piano and showed Dan some basic cords. This ignited his amazing talent as a pianist.
- Dan was baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost there when he was 10 years old.
The Second Decade
- In 1959, the family moved to Kennett, Missouri. Glen Segraves had been elected to pastor the church there after his father, L. D. Segraves had passed away on June 1, 1959. Years later, Dan was told by Mary Lou Myrick that his grandpa referred to him as “my little preacher.”
- In 1963, at the age of 16, Dan received his call to preach during a 24-hour prayer chain. He had selected the 2:00-3:00 am hour of prayer.
- Dan first saw Judy Miller in Rector, Arkansas, when she was singing in a trio at a fellowship meeting. He was only 12 years old, but it was love at first sight. They were married on June 14, 1964, two weeks after their high school graduation. Dan was 17 years old.
- In September 1964, Dan enrolled in Western Apostolic Bible College, and they moved to Stockton, California. Their daughter, Sharon was born there on November 13, 1966.
- Dan graduated from WABC in 1967 and they returned to Kennett, Missouri, where he was elected as Co-Pastor with his father. While serving in this capacity, he was tasked with renovating the Sunday School Department. It was completed using the Center of Interest concept introduced by Mary Wallace.
The Third Decade
- In March 1968, Dan was appointed as the first Director of Promotions and Publications for the UPCI Sunday School Division, and their young family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Their son Mark was born there on March 13, 1970.
- During his tenure, Word Aflame Sunday School Curriculum was created. Dan was the Junior High editor.
- From 1971 to 1974, he served as Minister of Education at The First Pentecostal Church in Maplewood, Missouri, pastored by Ron Simmons.
- The Watchmen Trio, which included Dan, Gary Gleason and Ron Simmons was formed during this time and they recorded two long play albums. They also recorded four additional songs on another two albums produced by the Home Missions Division of the United Pentecostal Church, Inc. Dan sang lead and played the bass for the trio.
- During this decade, he took piano lessons from Tim Ayers and Lanny Wolfe. Lanny also taught him to play the organ.
- Dan was the Radio Host for Hymns of Praise, a weekly radio program on KSLQ in St. Louis for 3 years.
- In the fall of 1974, W. C. Parkey invited him to become the Director of Christian Education at Gateway College. It was not a long tenure, because he left to begin pastoring.
- In 1975, he accepted the pastorate of First Pentecostal Church of Dupo, Illinois and served there for 7 ½ years.
- During his pastorate, the St. Clair Christian Academy, and the Bi-State Convention (later known as the Acts Convention) were established.
- Dan’s radio ministry expanded to include a daily broadcast on WCBW hosting gospel music and programming.
The Fourth Decade
- In 1982, Dan accepted an invitation from Kenneth Haney to serve as Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Department of Theology at Christian Life College. Once again, their family moved to Stockton, California.
- During these years, he wrote several books which are still in print today. You Can Understand the Bible, written during this time, is used as a textbook in our UPCI endorsed colleges.
- The Adult Sunday School lessons which he taught at Christian Life Center were broadcast daily on KYCC for many years.
The Fifth Decade
- In 1992, Dan completed a Doctor of Education degree from California Coast University and in 1993 he completed a Master of Arts in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary.
- Dan also played the organ at Christian Life Center for many years when Terry Gunn was the Music Director.
The Sixth Decade
- In 2001, Kenneth Haney was elected as the General Superintendent of the UPCI. Dan was then appointed as the President of Christian Life College.
- He completed a Master of Theology degree from Western Seminary in 2004 and then began working on a PhD at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA.
- Dan served as an adjunct professor at Urshan Graduate School of Theology from its beginning in 2001.
The Seventh Decade
- After 25 years of ministry at Christian Life College, Dan and Judy returned to St. Louis to enjoy semi-retirement so he could pursue research and writing on a full-time basis.
- UGST President, David Bernard, requested that he would serve as Chief Academic Officer beginning with the 2009 school year. In 2010, he also served as Dean of Administration along with his duties as the Academic Dean and Assistant Professor.
- In the spring of 2009, Judy was diagnosed with cancer, which took her life on January 16, 2011.
- Though grieving the loss of his wife, Dan continued his work of teaching, writing, and research. He completed his PhD at Regent University in May of 2011, just a few months after Judy’s promotion to Heaven. Daniel’s dissertation, titled “Andrew D. Urshan: A Theological Biography,” was granted “passed with distinction.”
- During March of 2012, Daniel ministered in Cabot, Arkansas at the invitation of Pastor Tim Gaddy
- In the spring of 2013, Dan completed study notes in the Apostolic Study Bible for Psalms, Proverbs, Hebrews, James, First Peter, Second Peter and Jude. In addition, he also contributed the signature articles on the Holy Spirit and The Gifts of the Spirit.
- On June 13, 2013, through a text message that we believe was directed by the Lord, our lives came together, and we were married on September 28, 2013. We spent a brief honeymoon at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Clayton, MO.
- After this brief honeymoon, we attended the annual general conference of the United Pentecostal Church International in St. Louis, MO. During the Christmas season following the general conference, we celebrated a more extended honeymoon by enjoying a seven-day cruise around each of the seven Hawaiian Islands. When they left St. Louis, MO for this cruise, Payne Family Homes began digging the basement for their new home, located at 240 Dogwood Meadow Ct, St. Peters, MO. They moved into the finished home during April 2014. In May of the same year, we took our second cruise, this one to Alaska on the Norwegian Jewel.
The Eighth Decade
- On July 1, 2018, Dan retired from teaching at UGST as Professor Emeritus. He had enjoyed 17 years of ministry there.
- He currently contributes to God’s Word for Life, a spiritual growth program for the home and church.
- During these 60 years of ministry, he has authored 21 books.
- He blogs at danielsegraves.com.
- In 2019, an article written by Daniel titled “Yahweh, Jehovah, and Jesus,” was printed in the Pentecostal Life magazine. In October of the same year, another of his articles titled “The Seven Motivators” was printed in the same magazine.
- On July 21, 2021, Daniel taught the Wednesday night Bible study at The Sanctuary UPC in Hazelwood, Missouri. The text was Ephesians 4:7-16. This is Daniel and Susan’s home church. Their pastor is Mitchell Bland.
- During August–November, 2022, Daniel taught the New Birth course for Purpose Institute via Zoom.
- During the Fall of 2021, Daniel wrote segments 1-13 of Biblical Insight and Overview for God’s Word for Life.
- He contributed lessons 1-13 for the 2021-2022 Daily Devotional Guides for God’s Word for Life.
- During the Spring months of 2021, he wrote lessons 1-13 of the Daily Devotional Guide for God’s Word for Life.
- During the month of July, 2021, Daniel taught the Bible class at the Massachusetts – Rhode Island Summer Summit (i.e., camp meeting). This was his eighteenth camp meeting to serve as the Bible teacher.
- On October 27, 2022 he submitted the first lesson in a four lesson series titled “Worshiping Our Sovereign God” for God’s Word for Life.
- On October 3-8, 2022, Daniel and Susan attended the annual general conference of the United Pentecostal Church International, Inc. in Orlando, Florida.
- On October 9, 2022 Daniel submitted a chapter titled “Andrew D. Urshan: An Eastern Voice in Early Oneness Pentecostalism” for publication in a book titled Oneness Pentecostalism: Race, Gender, and Culture, scheduled for publication in 2023 by the Pennsylvania State University Press. The editors of this volume are Lloyd D. Barba, Andrea Shan Johnson, and Daniel Ramirez. The foreword is written by Grant Wacker.
- Daniel wrote lesson ten, titled “Unmoved by God’s Word,” for the Summer 2022 God’s Word for Life curriculum. The lesson was scheduled to be taught on August 7, 2022.
- On April 19, 2022, Daniel taught the men’s Bible study at The Sanctuary UPC. By request, he taught on the subject of Signs and Wonders.
- On September 18, 2022, Daniel taught the Adult Bible Class at The Sanctuary UPC. He taught from God’s Word for Life on the subject of the Ten Commandments. The video of this lesson is posted at danielsegraves.com.
- Daniel is scheduled to teach the Adult Bible Class at The Sanctuary UPC on October 30, 2022. This is All Nations Sunday.
- Daniel’s article “You Shall be Baptized with the Holy Spirit” is included on pages 34-35 of the October 2021 issue of Pentecostal Life, published by the United Pentecostal Church International.
- Daniel’s article “Preach Recovery of Sight to the Blind” is included on pages 34-35 of the December 2021 issue of Pentecostal Life, published by the United Pentecostal Church International.
- Daniel continues to research and write toward the completion of the second volume of his commentary on Psalms, titled The Messiah in the Psalms: Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places.
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