RICHARD BYRD WILKE, 1930-2025
Richard Byrd Wilke, a retired United Methodist bishop and author of the popular Disciple Bible Study series, died on Easter, April 20, 2025, in Winfield, Kansas. He was 94.
Wilke was born June 18, 1930, in El Dorado, Kansas, the son of Clarence Wilke, a funeral home director, and his wife, Pearl Byrd Wilke. He attended Southern Methodist University, where he served as student body president and was a champion debater; he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1952. While at SMU, he met his future wife, Julia Kitchens of Texarkana, Texas, and they were married June 20, 1953, at First United Methodist, her family church, in Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1955, he received a master of divinity degree from Yale University, earning the senior preaching award, and he returned to Kansas to begin his career as an ordained United Methodist minister.
Over the next 30 years, he established a reputation in the state for revitalizing and expanding congregations, first serving the Scandia United Methodist Church, then Pleasant Valley UMC in Wichita, and University UMC in Salina. In 1972, he earned a second master of divinity, summa cum laude, from Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. The seminary awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in 1994.
After three years as a district superintendent based in Winfield, Wilke was appointed senior pastor at First UMC in Wichita, his largest church. In his 11 years in that pulpit, he initiated televised services that reached central and western Kansas, and under his leadership, the church developed a singles ministry with 500 participants and an adult Sunday school program with an 800-member enrollment. A prolific author, he also wrote three books during that time, Pastor and Marriage Group Counseling (1974), Tell Me Again, I’m Listening (1977), and Our Father (1978), all released by the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH).
In 1984, Wilke was elected to the episcopacy and appointed to serve Arkansas, where he established church growth and evangelism as his priorities. Two years later, he published And Are We Yet Alive?, a best-selling and critically acclaimed analysis of why the church was losing membership. Among its recommendations was more in-depth study of Scripture.
Early in his tenure, Wilke also mandated that all United Methodist churches in Arkansas initiate some form of long-term Bible study – a directive that inspired UMPH to bring Wilke and his wife into discussions about producing a new study. Eventually, they were invited to write the resource themselves, and they created a blueprint that included daily reading, weekly group get-togethers, and videotaped lectures by biblical scholars. Disciple Bible Study: Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study was published in 1987.
The 34-week curriculum was intended to stand alone as a grand sweep of the Bible, but it proved so popular that UMPH enlisted the Wilkes to write a series of three more studies that dug deeper into equal portions of the Old and New Testaments: Disciple II: Into the Word, Into the World (1991), Disciple III: Remember Who You Are (1996), and Disciple IV: Under the Tree of Life (2001); Disciple I also was adapted into a youth edition. In 2016, the Wilkes’ daughter, Susan Wilke Fuquay, created the next Disciple generation with Disciple Fast Track, a streamlined version of the original.
Disciple has come to set the standard for long-term, intensive Bible study. In total, the studies have been taken more than 3 million times in all 50 states, in over 10,000 congregations in 30 denominations, and in many foreign countries; it also has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Russian, German, and Mandarin Chinese. The Wilkes traveled widely, helping to bring Disciple to Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Near East. Wilke was renowned for his preaching, and his wife was an accomplished speaker and workshop leader with an expertise in Christian education.
Wilke also served on several boards of colleges, hospitals, and on UMC general boards during his 12-year tenure as Arkansas’ bishop. In 1989, he published Signs and Wonders: The Mighty Work of God in the Church, a sequel to And Are We Yet Alive? that documented examples of church growth and offered insights into revitalization. Almost two decades later, in 2008, Wilke published The Tie that Binds, another follow-up to And Are We Yet Alive?
After retiring in 1996, Wilke and his wife returned to Winfield, Kansas, where he served as bishop-in-residence at Southwestern College, a United Methodist institution. In 2001, the Wilkes founded the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship at the college, dedicating it to providing online Christian educational resources and encouraging small-group study. He received honorary doctorates from Southwestern College in 1976 and from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1990. Yale Divinity School also recognized him, in 2005, for Distinction in Ordained Ministry.
In 2024, in partnership with UMPH, the Institute introduced newly revised and updated versions of Disciple I and Disciple II on the BeADisciple Study App, a digital platform created to provide small-group Christian curriculum. All four studies will eventually be offered on the app. The Wilkes’ oldest son, Steve, leads the project as the Institute’s executive director, and his three siblings also have lent their time and energy, a source of great joy for Wilke in his final years.
Wilke was preceded in death by his wife in 2016 and his sister, Beverly, in 2019. His survivors include the 39 members of his immediate family: four children and their spouses, Steve (Beth), Paul (Janelle), Susan Fuquay (Rob), and Sarah (Nancy Kruh); nine grandchildren and their spouses; and 13 great-grandchildren. Steve and Beth have four children and nine grandchildren: Krista Ranby (Scott), Norah and Caleb Ranby; Katie Johnson (Adam), BonnyMae and Raelond Johnson; Joel Wilke (Lindsay), Luke, Emma, and Maddie Wilke; Julie Wilke (Emilee), Kate and Ruby Wilke. Paul and Janelle have two children and two grandchildren: Michelle Weatherbee (Craig) and Jaiden Weatherbee, and Matthew Wilke (Jenny) and Jonah Wilke. Susan and Rob Fuquay have three children and two grandchildren: Julia Delise (Christian) and Geronimo and Genevieve Delise; Sarah Siepka (Brett); and Anna Skochdopole (Vince). He is also survived by two nieces, Kate Gordon and Deborah Hisle, and two nephews, David Dockhorn and Doug Dockhorn.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at First United Methodist Church, 1000 Millington St., Winfield, Kansas. Visitation will be 4-6 p.m. Monday, May 5, at Miles Funeral Service, 4001 E. 9th Avenue, Winfield, and 10-11 a.m. at the church before the service. A private burial will follow the service.
Gifts may be made to the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College at institutefordiscipleship.org or to its mailing address, 100 College Ave., Winfield, KS 67156. The family requests that gifts be designated to the BeADisciple Study App to further the legacy of Wilke’s substantial contributions to Christian education and small-group study.
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Read the news article about Bishop Wilke’s life by UM News
Read the news article about Bishop Wilke’s life by the Great Plains Conference