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RICHARD BYRD WILKE, 1930-2025Richard 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 direc ...
Winfield, Kansas, May 7, 2024 – Richard E. Clark has joined the Southwestern College faculty as a Visiting Scholar of the Institute for Discipleship (IFD). Each academic year the Institute for Discipleship provides a $20,000 fellowship and housing to a new or near-completion Ph.D. candidate in relig ...
November 6, 2023 — The BeADisciple Study App has been named best in class for internet communications in the 2023 United Methodist Association of Communicators Awards competition.The app, which began public beta testing in August 2023, is a ministry of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Disci ...
August 24, 2023 — After more than two years of development and testing, a state-of-the-art app created by the Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College is now available for widespread use around the world. The BeADisciple Study App has been created by a team that has included SC alumni in t ...
August 24, 2023 -- The Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College has announced the successful completion of a fundraising campaign that will support the development of its new BeADisciple Study App. Donors contributed more than half a million dollars, surpassing the campaign’s goal. In Apr ...
June 6, 2023 (Winfield, Kansas) -- Lori Richey has been named director of online education for the Institute for Discipleship, and will oversee all offerings at BeADisciple.com beginning July 1. BeADisciple.com is part of the Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College and has offered quality ...
May 1, 2023 – For 35 years, the DISCIPLE Bible Study series has been transforming millions of lives around the world with its print editions, and the popular curriculum is now going digital, the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship and the United Methodist Publishing House jointly anno ...
May 31, 2023 — A new cycle of online ministry certification courses is set to begin Aug. 21, 2023, at BeADisciple.com. BeADisciple.com is part of the Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College and has offered quality online educational experiences with roots in Wesleyan theology since 2006. ...
Dr. Cheryl RudeDr. Cheryl Rude will join the administrative team of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship on July 1, 2023, transitioning from a distinguished academic career that has made her a national leader in service learning studies.Rude will become the Institute’s director of ...
As the most solemn and celebratory moments of the Christian year approach, many worship leaders may find they are struggling to craft appropriate services for their congregations. An online course offered by BeADisciple.com will address this struggle March 14-28. “Developing a Dynamic Praise and Wor ...
Funded by the Texas Methodist Foundation and produced in coordination with Perkins School of Theology Office of External Programs, a series of online learning conversations will give participants practical tools to serve teen and young adult Christians. Free for participants, these live conversation ...
WINFIELD, KS — Sarah Wilke has been appointed director of global relations for the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship, effective Jan. 1.This newly created position will support the Institute's growing focus on international ministry, and Wilke's initial priority will be to help devel ...