UPCI

Back to my roots.

Daniel Segraves

August 2, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

A couple of days ago I contacted the hotel where Susan and I will stay during the upcoming eightieth general conference of the United Pentecostal Church International. The conference will convene in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Our hotel will be nearby.

The UPCI came into existence in 1945. I was born the next year.

As I thought about the location of our hotel and the fact that I was born in a home in St. Lous, I wondered how far my birth place is from our hotel.

I checked it out. Eight minutes. I took my first breath on the first floor of a house within minutes of the site of the eightieth general conference of the UPCI.

To borrow some lyrics from Andrae Crouch, “I’ve been a lot of places, and I’ve seen a lot of faces ….”

I have lived in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and California. I have declared the gospel of Jesus Christ in each of these states and in Australia, France, and Germany. I have taught the Scriptures for eighteen camp meetings and visited Israel (twice), Jordan, Belgium, Holland, Quebec, Italy, the Vatican (twice), St. Martin, Canada, and Mexico. There may be some other places I’ve fogotten about.

But I keep coming home.

I will be 79 years old in three months, and I have spent about half of my life in or just minutes away from the city of St. Louis.

This is something of a parable for me. It’s not just the city, it’s my spiritual home.

The UPCI is where I want to be. It was in a UPCI church that I was baptized in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit. It is where I have developed deep lifelong friendships.

I have been a credentialed minister with the UPCI for sixty years. My ordination occurred on November 29, 1968.

St. Louis is my natural home.

The United Penteostal Church International is my spiritual home.

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How videos are produced at the UPCI headquarters.

Daniel Segraves

June 4, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

Since 1968, I have been involved in various ways in the production of Sunday school curriculum for the United Pentecostal Church International. This started with Word Aflame Publications, when I served as the editor of the Junior High literature.

As you might imagine, many changes have occurred in this process since 1968. Beginning in the 1970s and continuing to the present time, I have written materials on the adult level. Although I have lost track of how many lessons I have written, I think it is safe to say they number in the hundreds. Some years ago, I counted what I had done to that point. I believe it was 150 lessons.

More recently, with the development of new technologies, my involvement has reached beyond writing. Videos are now included in the materials produced to supplement the printed lessons. Last week, I was in the studio at the headquarters of the UPCI to film two videos, one on the significance of the change of Jacob’s name to Israel and the other on what it means to say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

It occurred to me that some readers of this blog may be interested to know what kind of studio is used and how this process is accomplished. Susan, my wife, was with me, and she took some pictures with her iPhone. We were in the same studio where David K. Bernard and Jonathan Mohr film Dr. Bernard’s podcast.

L. J. Harry, Curriculum Director for the Pentecostal Resources Group, sits with his back to the camera. State-of-the-art technology is utilized, including a teleprompter that keeps pace with the reader’s voice. I wrote the scripts for the videos and emailed them to Brother Harry before the session. David Zuniga, the cameraman, is a graduate of Christian Life College in Stockton, California. I taught at Christian Life College for twenty-five years.

So that’s it! I recommend God’s Word for Life, the current name of the curriculum produced by the UPCI. Each Sunday, the lessons prepared for all grade levels explore the same biblical texts, enabling families to review what they have studied.

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Is speaking in tongues the evidence or the sign of baptism with the Holy Spirit?

Daniel Segraves

June 1, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

As Susan and I were cleaning out our garage yesterday, I discovered a DVD titled, “Daniel Segraves, Sunday Evening Session, 2014, Division of Education Summer Institute.” Perhaps I had forgotten this DVD existed. When I viewed it, I realized it was a message I delivered exploring whether speaking in tongues is the evidence a person has been baptized with the Holy Spirit or a sign of that event.

When I was doing research for my Ph.D. dissertation on the biography and theology of Andrew D. Urshan, I read one of his books titled “My Study of Modern Pentecostals.” In this book, written in 1923, Urshan explained his belief that speaking with tongues is the sign, not the evidence. The Fundamental Doctrine of the United Pentecostal Church International describes speaking with other tongues as the initial sign of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

I wrote an article exploring this view titled “Speaking in Tongues: Evidence or Sign?” and posted it on this blog on July 19, 2018. You can read the article there.

When I realized my presentation was also preserved in video format, I decided to post it as well. Here it is:

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Sixty years of ministry.

Daniel Segraves

May 7, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

I am so thankful for the privilege of being involved in various aspects of ministry in the United Pentecostal Church International for the past sixty years. This has included pastoring, teaching, and writing.

It all began when I was sixteen years old. As I participated in a prayer meeting at about one or two o’clock in the morning, the Lord gave me a desire to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. My early training came from men like Clyde J. Haney, Paul Dugas, and other faculty members at Western Apostolic Bible College in Stockton, California.

In 1968, the year after graduation from WABC, I accepted an invitation from J. O. Wallace to work with him as the first Director of Promotions and Publications for the General Sunday School Department of the UPC. At that time, the headquarters of the organization were located at 3645 South Grand Avenue in Saint Louis, Missouri. This is the city where I was born.

During the time I served in this capacity, the UPC began publishing the first full-scale Oneness Pentecostal Sunday school curriculum under the banner of Word Aflame Publications. My responsibility was to function as the editor of the Junior High materials.

From 1970 until 1975, I worked as the Minister of Christian Education for a local church in Maplewood, Missouri, while at the same time developing promotional materials for various departments of the UPC. Then I accepted the pastorate of the First Pentecostal Church in Dupo, Illinois, staying in this role until 1982.

During the spring of 1982, Kenneth F. Haney invited me to become the Executive Vice-President of Christian Life College. I accepted, returning to Stockton as the administrator and chairman of the department of theology for the same school where I had been trained when it was known as WABC. When Brother Haney was elected as the general superintendent of the UPCI, he asked me to assume the role of president for CLC. I served in this office until 2007, when I returned to St. Louis to teach at Urshan Graduate School of Theology.

I retired from full-time work at UGST on July 1, 2018, becoming professor emeritus.

This is a kind of “bare bones” description of my life in ministry to this point. Along the way, I have written twenty-two books, and I am now working on the twenty-third. I have been the Bible teacher at eighteen camp meetings, and I had the privilege of preaching for the general conference of the United Pentecostal Church in Australia.

As the days of my life have progressed, I have had the opportunity to complete further education, earning the Master of Arts in Exegetical Theology and the Master of Theology degrees at Western Seminary as well as the Ph.D. in Renewal Studies with dual emphases in Christian History and Christian Theology at Regent University School of Divinity.

None of us knows the future. But if the day should come when I receive a Ministry Milestone for seventy years of service, I will be approaching ninety years of age!

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How consumerism redefines our values.

Daniel Segraves

May 6, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D

In preparation for a class I’ve been asked to teach, I’m reading Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives, by Steve Wilkins and Mark L. Sanford (IVP Academic).

The authors relate the story of Dominic, “a monk who founded the Dominican order, and his visit to Pope Innocent III in Rome in the thirteenth century. While giving Dominic a tour of the Vatican, in which its massive treasures were prominently displayed, the Pope said (in reference to Acts 3:6), ‘Peter [signifying the Pope] can no longer say, “Silver and gold have I none.”’ Dominic responded, ‘Neither can he say, “Rise and walk.”’ Dominic’s point is that when we value the types of power available through wealth, we also devalue power of a different, and more important, sort.”

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Pneumatology at Urshan Graduate School of Theology

Daniel Segraves

April 4, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

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Yesterday, I enjoyed an afternoon of teaching a session on the Holy Spirit in the Systematic Theology course taught by Jeffrey Brickle, Professor of Biblical Studies. Dr. Brickle, a long-time friend of mine, invited me to lecture on this topic.

Dr. Brickle treated us to lunch at Urshan University. The empty plate belongs to Susan, my wife, who is also my personal photographer and videographer. Susan and I had visited the campus several times, but we were once again so impressed by the beauty of the 60+ acre campus. You can see an on-campus lake and dormitory from the spacious dining room, where delicious meals are served daily by professional chefs Steve and Ellen Hall. Steve and Ellen catered our wedding almost twelve years ago, and they also catered my mother’s 90th birthday party in our home.

We entered the campus by turning from East Pitman Avenue in Wentzville, Missouri onto Bernard Drive. From Bernard Drive, we turned onto Apostolic Way, then onto Urshan Way. We had arrived early in the morning to attend the thesis defense of L. J. Harry, a graduating student. His presentation was excellent and we were enriched by the fellowship we enjoyed. Brother Harry is the curriculum director for the Pentecostal Resources Group. Thus, he is responsible for the production of God’s Word for Life, the Sunday school curriculum available from the Pentecostal Publishing House. In the picture below, Brother Harry is seen presenting his thesis on the topic of the identity of the twenty-four elders in the Book of Revelation. His diligent research and clear analysis resulted in a thought provoking conclusion.

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I was happy to introduce my newest book, titled The Holy Spirit, to the students. Of course I couldn’t cover all 314 pages in one afternoon of teaching, but I was able to explain the major themes and some of the key biblical texts about the Holy Spirit. The fact that the Spirit of God appears first in the second verse of the Holy Bible and also in the fifth verse from the end of the Bible demonstrates the high profile of the Spirit in the inspired Scriptures. Altogether, there are more than 330 references to the Holy Spirit in Scripture. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is referred to about once every 11.6 chapters. In the New Testament, on average, about once per chapter. My book is available at pentecostalpublishing.com as well as on Amazon.com.

I recommend Urshan University and Urshan Graduate School of Theology to apostolic students who wish to earn regionally and professionally accredited degrees from the undergraduate level to the doctoral level. You can access all information at http://www.urshan.edu.

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Almost there ….

Daniel Segraves

January 10, 2025 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

I am happy to report that I have finished my work on Psalms 73-104. Now I am working on Psalm 105, which I may be able to complete over this weekend. If so, I will lack only Psalm 106 to be ready to send the manuscript for the second volume of my commentary to the editor.

Those who have followed my journey on this project know it has been off and on the back burner since 2018. This has never been because of a lack of interest on my part. I am intrigued by the Psalter, and I rejoice over every discovery I have made. It has truly been an experience of discovery. That’s why all three volumes of this work (yes, there will be a third and final volume covering Psalms 107-150) are titled The Messiah in the Psalms: Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places.

When the project has been on the back burner, it has been due largely to my involvement in other writing projects like my commentary on the Holy Spirit. This hardback book exceeds 300 pages and deals with nearly every reference to the Holy Spirit from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.

I am so grateful for my wife Susan! She has supported and encouraged me throughout this experience, sharing my joy of discovery when I found never before seen insights.

Now, back to work!

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Here’s what has happened in recent weeks.

Daniel Segraves

November 26, 2024 | Daniel L. Segraves, Ph.D.

About four weeks ago, I submitted the manuscript for my commentary on Psalms 73-89 to Everett Gossard, the book editor for the Pentecostal Resources Group, UPCI. On November 6, the Executive Publication Committee met and discussed the possibility of publishing the second volume of The Messiah in the Psalms: Discovering Christ in Unexpected Places. The committee provisionally approved the manuscript, contingent on their review of the entire manuscript once it is finished.

This volume will consist of my research and commentary on Psalms 73-106, Books 3 and 4 of the five books within the Psalter. The third volume will cover Psalms 107-150, the fifth and final book within the Book of Psalms.

Since submitting the manuscript, I have finished my work on Psalms 90 and 91. It has been my goal to complete all the psalms through Psalm 106 by the end of this year. I’m realizing this may not be possible. If not, I have prayed to be able reach this goal by the end of January in hopes of getting this second volume published by the time of the 2025 general conference of the United Pentecostal Church International in St. Louis, my home town.

I deeply appreciate the opportunity to participate in the writing ministry. I love the Book of Psalms and pray that God would give me the ability to rightly divide the word of truth and to understand how the Scriptures speak of Him.

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A visit to the seminary classroom via the Book of Proverbs

Daniel Segraves

Today as I worked on writing a lesson for God’s Word for Life, the curriculum published by the United Pentecostal Church International, I came upon a video recording of a classroom session at Urshan Graduate School of Theology. The video features the first session of a series on the Book of Proverbs. I thought some readers of my blog may be interested to see what goes on in a seminary classroom, so here it is!

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