• Affinity Groups: Choose a group that fits you. You will find groups for your region, graduation year, ministry setting, identity, and interests. Currently we have the following affinity groups available with plans to continue to grow the list:
  • New Alumni/ae Group: If you are a new alumni/ae this is a great place to connect with those with whom you recently graduated.
  • Chaplain Group: A monthly alumni/nae Chaplain Group was started to provide peer support, educational support, and occasional guest speakers.
• Mighty Networks: The Mighty Networks is the new platform that Phillips is using to connect with alumni/ae and to connect alumni/ae with each other. We are excited to use this platform for affinity groups, webinars, and educational opportunities. Join Phillips Seminary Connect (connect.ptstulsa.edu)
• Chapel: You can connect to our chapels on our YouTube channel, Phillips Seminary. You may join us live or watch chapel after the live event. You will find other videos from events on the YouTube channel.
• Phillips Communities: COMING SOON! Phillips Communities will be a group in some geographic areas that will bring together students and alumni to connect and support each other. The Phillips Communities will get together once or twice a year for dinner, happy hour or similar event. There will be an alumni coordinator in each area. If you are interested in being a coordinator in your area, please contact Malisa Pierce to get more information.

• Center for Ministry and Lay Training: CMLT provides year-round educational opportunities for you and your congregants. CMLT is a great place to provide extra training for the leaders in your church and to supplement your own education at a low cost. Each class occurs on-line for 8 weeks. Click Here to see current available classes, learn more about CMLT, and register for a class.
• Center for Religion and Public Life: CRPL provides a podcast, blog and other resources to the public. To learn more about the programs, activities, and learning opportunities provided by the CRPL click here.
• Audit: Every semester particular classes are designated as available to auditors. This is a great way to keep up with new theories and practices of ministry without entering a degree program.
• Remind & Renew: Each winter Phillips hosts Remind & Renew, a two-day conference for alumni/ae, laity, and ministers. For more information about Remind & Renew and the upcoming conference theme, click here.
• Library Usage: All Phillips graduates are automatically given alumni/ae status with the library. Alumi/ae retain all prior privileges when on campus. Remote privileges vary by license agreements with our vendors. Learn about more library privileges available to alumni/ae here. You may also access all of your benefits on the library website.
• Other educational opportunities to look for:
  • Justice Program Coming July 2021
  • Webinars
  • Clergy Circles
  • Phillips Roundhouse

• Volunteer Opportunities
  • Phillips Encouragement Program (PEP): COMING SOON! PEP is an encouragement program pairing alumni/ae with students to encourage them through their Phillips career. At a minimum, the alumni/ae are expected to send encouraging notes (mail or email) to the student each semester and pray for them as they prepare for them. How the encouragement relationship grows will depend on the needs of the student as long as the interaction stays within the boundaries of the program protocols. If you would like to be a PEP volunteer, please contact Malisa Pierce.
  • Recruiting: We are all recruiters for Phillips. As an alumni/ae, you are one of the most important recruiters because the majority of students are referred to Phillips by an alumni/ae. If you would like information about referring potential students to Phillips or have questions for the Phillips recruiter, contact Ulysses Allen.
• Give a Gift to Phillips: You may give a gift by mail or online. You may visit the “Ways to Give” page of the Advancement section on the website to learn more about supporting Phillips through your monetary gifts.
• iFundPhillips: iFP is the annual fall campaign to connect with our alumni/ae and raise funds to support student services. More information is available on the iFundPhillips page on the Phillips web-site.
• Sustaining Donor Club: As an alumni/ae, monthly giving is a great way to support your alma mater. The monthly giving program, Sustaining Donor Club, allows Phillips to budget and count on a gift each month that will help support the students, innovation, and the monthly needs of the seminary. To become a Sustaining Donor, contact Sharon Russ.
• Campaigns: COMING SOON!

• Current Assemblies Attending: Phillips wants to meet you at your assembly! Look for opportunities to connect with other Phillips alumni/ea, staff, and/or faculty at the DOC, UCC, UU, and other assemblies.
• Mighty Networks: Join other alumni/ae on our new networking site. The site contains affinity groups, educational opportunities, and is a great way to stay up to date with activities at Phillips. Phillips Seminary Connect (connect.ptstulsa.edu)
• Update Form: We want to stay in touch with you and your ministry. Please complete this form if you have an address, phone or ministry setting change.
• Sign up for the monthly ENews: If you do not currently receive the monthly ENews from Phillips, please send your name and email address to Advancement@ptstulsa.edu with ENEWS in the subject line or complete the form at the bottom of the Alumni/ae page.
• Tell us your story: We want to stay in touch but also want to know your story. Do you have an interesting ministry story to tell or a life changing seminary experience to share? Submit your story here.

• The Board of Directors of the Alumni Association has responsibility for the affairs of the Association and assisting the Association to fulfill its purpose.
• List of Board Members
  • The Rev. Kelley Becker (2014), President
  • The Rev. Kay Korpics (2018), Vice President
  • The Rev. Anna Hubbard (2014), Secretary-Treasurer
  • The Rev. Andy Beck (2013)
  • The Rev. Andrea Clark Chambers (2010)
  • The Rev. Kara Farrow (2018)
  • The Rev. Paul Ellis Jackson (2017)
  • The Rev. Alan Lobaugh (1979, 1982)
  • The Rev. Marnie Leinberger (2016)
  • The Rev. Travis McKee (2014)
  • The Rev. Brandon Proffitt (2022)
  • Linda Tucker (2019)

The Marshall Award recognizes graduates of Phillips Theological Seminary, Phillips Graduate Seminary, The Graduate Seminary of Phillips University, or the College of the Bible whose service to God, the Church and the human Community has been faithful and exemplary.

The Alumni/ae Association is currently in the process of accepting applications for Marshall Award nominees. Please complete the nomination form if you would like to nominate a Phillips Alumni/ae for the distinguished award. You may request a nominations form from Tammy Ryan.

Distinguished Alumni/ae Award

(2001 – 2008)

January-01              Jack Allen Oliver

January-02              Spencer Austin                  Stanley Warfield

January-03              Jerry Perryman                  Paul Ehly

January-04              John Henry Cain                Marvin Nelson

January-05              Robert Elliott                      George Young

July-05                    Sharon Watkins

January-06              Robert Gartman                 Robin Meyers

July-06                    Gary Cox

January-07              David Wilson                     Orval Holt

January-08              Honored all previous alumni/ae for Centennial

Frank H. Marshall Award for Ministerial Excellence

(2009 – Present)

January-09              O. Eugene Moore              Alan Lobaugh

January-10              Leslie Penrose                  Eugene Frazier

January-11              Ron Nofziger                     Bill Reece

January-13              Phil Snider                        Archie Lawrence

January-14              Todd Adams                     Jesse Jackson

January-15              Skipped Nominations for lack of nominees

January-16              Sheri Curry

January-17              Melinda Foster                  John Wolfersberger

January-18              Mike Hardgrove

January-19              David Hockensmith            Paul Krueger

January-20              Gene Spillman, Jr.             Myrna Jones

January-21              Bill Inglish                          Maribeth Westerfield

The Reverend Noel Haley Gray

Chaplain Noel Gray has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Ethics, a Master of Divinity from Phillips Theological Seminary, as well as a Masters in Psychology and Counseling. She is currently completing a Doctorate in Transformational Ministries for Women, which was completing on a full academic scholarship.  Noel is a CPE Diplomate Supervisor.  She was ordained in April of 2010, after completing two years of Clinical Pastoral Education with a paid residency at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City in 2011. In 2019, Noel became the supervisor of Pastoral Care at IBMC.

In her off-time, Chaplain Noel is the Senior Pastor of Refuge fellowship Church in OKC, which is an emergent congregation that serves disenfranchised populations. Her teaching ability provides an opportunity for her to serve as an adjunct instructor and adult educator.

Noel is a published author and public speaker. She has three adult children and five grandchildren. Her hobbies include cooking, gardening, and interior design. She is endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The Reverend Robert J. Barrett

Reverend Robert J. Barrett’s days are about as predictable as the weather on the rugged, central coast of Oregon, where the town of Yachats is located.  He may begin his day with someone experiencing a personal crisis or responding to some other pastoral emergency. There’s a conference call with a County Commissioner about homeless services, followed by a meeting with a community member interested in starting an N.A. group, which is interrupted by a contractor coming to fix a leaking roof.  Later a houseless individual living in their car needs some food, and an elderly community member has a serious plumbing issue that they lack the funds to repair but are too embarrassed to ask for.  This is the life of a small-town pastor, where the church not only serves the spiritual needs of its people, but also acts a center of community support. Pastor Bob, as he is affectionally known around town, will tell you that all this is exactly as it should be.  That his call to Yachats (pronounced “YAH- hotz”) was not only to the church, but to the local community.

Bob grew up with a deep sense of responsibility to the cause of social justice. His sense of civic duty came from his mother, who could not drive by a protest without stopping to join in in solidarity.  He had an inkling that ministry would be his calling while still in middle school, but Bob was told by a trusted pastor, “If you can do anything else, do it.” Following his call to service, pastor Bob worked as a case manager for developmentally disabled adults, and then later as mental health social worker.  A conversation with another trusted pastor, who told him he would be restless until he answered his call, led to his entering Phillips Theological Seminary culminating in with his entering the seminary in 2004 while still working full time. After graduation, Bob served for two years as a Trauma Chaplain at the Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas.  In 2014, Bob took a call to serve the congregation of Yachats Community Presbyterian Church, in Yachats, Oregon.

One might imagine that coming to a picturesque small town like Yachats, filled with retirees, artists, and seasonal tourtists, Bob’s skill sets from his earlier life would not be as necessary as they once were, however this was not the case.  Like most, if almost all communities in the United States, issues of homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges were evident.  With what is largely a service economy, many working individuals and families face severe housing shortages, high rent, and food insecurity with the county boasting one of the highest rates of child poverty and homelessness in the state. The elderly too, face poor access to services and the eroding effects of isolation.  Afte arriving in 2014, Bob set up the task of creating an outward focused ministry—and opened YCPC’s doors with the moniker of “Come as You Are”.

And then came COVID, with its job losses, the threat of businesses closing their doors and the town shutting down. The crisis required some action—and within days of the shutdown, and with the full support of the church’s leadership and congregation, Bob took things further than could have been previously imagined.  Thinking the crisis would last a matter of weeks, Bob asked his session to commit $5,000 to help community members through this rough patch.  Pastor Bob and asked the community to match it in a Facebook post, and within an hour, $15,000 was raised.  As the pandemic wore on, the church session pledged another $10,000, and within one month $130k was raised; within 3 months, over 300k.  This money was then distributed weekly, to any individual who worked in Yachats and had lost their job, and to local businesses to pay for rent, utilities and whatever else they needed to keep operating.  By the end of the year, the tally raised was $600,000—all of which went back into the community.

Since that time, YCPC has grown a small food share into a full-service Food Pantry serving nearly 100 individuals a week, providing them each with 3 days’ worth of food.  In 2022, collaborating with community members, Bob spearheaded the development of a cold weather emergency shelter on church property, “Don’s Place,” (named after a local unhoused individual in the community who died earlier that year,) was launched in December, serving 10 houseless individuals per night.

Dedicated to the idea that Christ calls us to community, YCPC continues to be a place of welcome and belonging for all, believing that this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Do this in memory of me.”

Bob continues to move forward.  His next project is the development of a new Community Center that will serve as an umbrella for numerous outreach organizations in the community.  He is also working on a book, titled, “Why the Church Must Die: Leaning into Death, and trusting in the Promise of Resurrection and New Life.”