Urshan Graduate School of Theology

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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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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