Trajectories in the Book of Acts

Essays in Honor of John Wesley Wyckoff

Paul Alexander, Jordan Daniel May, Robert G. Reid, Alexander, May

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781606085400
• eBook ISBN: 9781498271721
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

The book of Acts has served as the foundational biblical text for the development of Pentecostal theology and biblical studies since the outpouring of the Spirit at the Azuza Street Revival in 1906. Now, over one hundred years have past since the Azuza Street Revival and the book of Acts is still at the forefront of the Pentecostal dialogue. Trajectories in Acts draws together the work of leading Pentecostal scholars each bringing their expertise to bear in tracing and developing trajectories in Acts. These essays have been brought together as a Festschrift in order to celebrate the influence, scholarship, and teaching career of John Wesley Wyckoff, a noted figure in the Assemblies of God and a known voice in the Pentecostal dialogue.

The Ministry of John Wesley Wyckoff

Changing the Trajectory of an Institution

Bruce E. Rosdahl

John Wyckoff is a good friend and colleague. I joined the faculty at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas nine years ago and quickly recognized his influence on the university. John represents a host of educators throughout the history of the church who work in relative anonymity, but whose influence on their institutions and students is immeasurable. They are legends on their campuses; alumni could not imagine their institutions apart from the long shadow these figures cast across their schools. Move outside of the institution, however, and they are relatively unknown. Their legacy is not found so much in the written page, but in the countless students they mentored through the years. In pulpits, classrooms, and mission fields across the globe, ministry takes place on a daily basis that bears the imprint of these educators. John Wesley Wyckoff is one such educator. This Festschrift in his honor is most fitting for a man who without exaggeration helped to chart the biblical and theological trajectory of his university. I am honored to tell the story of John’s life and the impact he continues to make at Southwestern Assemblies of God University and the lives of students around the world.

The Influence of a Godly Mother

John Wesley Wyckoff was born on March 8, 1944 in Mooreland, Oklahoma to John Wayne and Loretta (Kelso) Wyckoff. John’s father worked for the railroad and, like most in the region, he also farmed and ranched his land. The history of Mooreland is the classic American story of a pioneer town settled during the westward expansion of the nation. Mooreland is an agricultural community located in northwest Oklahoma at the intersection of highways 412 and 50 in Woodward County. Founded in 1901, the town ran along the Santa Fe Railroad line to meet the needs for supplies and markets as the pioneer population increased.1 The initial influx into the region came with the Cherokee Outlet Land Rush of 1893, just six years after the completion of the railroad.

Interwoven with the founding of communities around Mooreland is the Wyckoff name. John’s grandfather, Jesse Almon Wyckoff, opened the first general store in Mooreland in 1902.2 Jesse’s first move was from Iowa to Kansas; but, with the opening of the Oklahoma territory, he traveled in a covered wagon to homestead in Curtis, Oklahoma in 1899. A few years later, he moved four miles west to Mooreland and opened his general store and the first farmers’ co-op along with his brother Henry M. Wyckoff.

The Wyckoff brothers, Jesse and Henry, also have strong ties to the founding of two churches in Mooreland. Listed as charter members of the First United Methodist Church, which organized in 1904, are Henry and his wife.3 While there is no record of Jesse’s church involvement, his wife’s parents, Theobolt and Mary Bouquot, were devout Roman Catholics whose home facilitated the area’s first Mass. For a number of years families celebrated Mass whenever a circuit-riding priest made his way to the region. Eventually, in 1904, the Bouquots and a few other families formed Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mooreland.4

By the time of John’s father, John Wayne Wyckoff, there was some waning of religious devotion. John describes his father as a nominal Catholic who never attended church except for family funerals.5 John attributes his own faith to the influence of his godly mother, Loretta (Kelso) Wyckoff. He describes with fondness her diligence to raise her children in the faith despite opposition from her husband:

My father strongly opposed us going to church, but he never prevented mother from taking my older brother, my younger sister, and myself. When I was an infant, mother carried me while my brother held her skirt as they walked over a mile through the weeds on a soft, sandy trail to a dirt road to catch a ride into town for Sunday School and church. This faith commitment formed the foundation of my life.

One can sense John’s affection and gratitude for his mother’s spiritual legacy on the whole family. The same respect is evident in reflections made by Myrna Wyckoff, John’s wife, of her mother-in-law.

John’s mother was an influence on John and his older brother going to Southwestern and entering the ministry. . . . She was very missions minded. I dubbed my mom-in-law’s bathroom décor as ‘international’ as she had a bulletin board next to her bathroom mirror with thumbtacks and prayer cards noting the places for all of the missionaries she prayed for every day. She wrote most of these missionaries, sending birthday cards and Christmas greetings, and just staying in touch.

The influence of a godly mother can be seen not only in John’s life, but also in the life of his siblings. John’s older brother, Jesse Wayne Wyckoff, and his wife served as missionaries in Africa and they now pastor in Oklahoma. John’s younger sister, Judy Colleen (Wyckoff) Crozier, and her husband served as home missionaries in California.

Loretta’s spiritual heritage traces back to the beginning days of Pentecostalism in Mooreland. Her great, great grandfather, Ed Tanner, was one of the early members of Mooreland Assembly of God. The church was founded in June 1920 when two brothers, Glenn Millard, age sixteen, and Gordon Millard, age eighteen, came to Mooreland from Enid to proclaim the Pentecostal message. The Millard family was instrumental in the spread of Pentecostalism throughout this quadrant of Oklahoma. Bob Burke notes that it was their practice not only to hold revival services in cities, but also to establish a church with proper leadership.6 Such was the case in Mooreland. By the time John was born in 1944, Mooreland Assembly of God was well established and it was here that John’s Pentecostal faith was nurtured.

John graduated from Mooreland High School in the spring of 1962 in a class of thirty-four students. The next fall he left Mooreland and headed south to study chemistry and math at Southwestern State College in Weatherford (now Southwestern Oklahoma State University). It is here that John sensed God’s new direction for his life.

The Call to Ministry

Around John’s junior year of college, he sensed God calling him into fulltime ministry. The stirring of this call was evident earlier as John established a local chapter of Chi Alpha, an Assemblies of God campus ministry, at Southwestern State in 1964. After forty-five years, the ministry continues to flourish with an established chapter house on campus. When John sensed God’s call to vocational ministry, his initial impulse was to quit his studies in chemistry and move immediately into ministerial studies at Southwestern Assemblies of God College (SAGC7) in Texas. It was the counsel of his pastor, however, that encouraged John to complete his current studies before pursuing ministerial training. The advice of his pastor proved providential, as will be seen, once John arrived at SAGC’s campus in Texas. In spring of 1966, John graduated with a degree in Chemistry with minors in math and physics. With degree in hand, he packed his bags and moved south to the north Texas town of Waxahachie.

John arrived on the campus of SAGC in the fall of 1966 to pursue ministerial studies. At the time, SAGC consisted of a ministerial training college and a two-year junior college.8 These initial years at SAGC provided direction to John’s future life and ministry in two ways: they clarified his calling to teach and it was during this time he met his wife Myrna (Green) Wyckoff.

When John arrived on campus, the wise counsel of his pastor to complete his degree in math becomes evident. SAGC was in need of a math and chemistry teacher and the college hired John. The teaching position not only helped to pay for school, but also provided John with invaluable teaching experience. At one level, the teaching position was a blessing; however, with the teaching position came the expectation that John would pursue an advanced degree in math to satisfy accreditation demands. The result was that John had to balance teaching a full load of college courses, taking graduate courses in math at the University of Texas in Arlington, and taking ministerial courses, which was the reason he came to SAGC. By his own admission, his graduate courses in math began to suffer under the unbearable strain of competing demands. For two years (1967–1968), he taught math and science at the college. The experience confirmed his love of teaching, but it also confirmed that his desire was to teach the Bible and theology. John informed the administrators that he would not continue to pursue an advanced degree in math, which meant he could no longer teach ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• Chapter 1: The Ministry of John Wesley Wyckoff: Changing the Trajectory of an Institution
• Chapter 2: Spirit-Empowerment as Resistance Discourse: An Imperial-Critical Reading of Acts 2
• Chapter 3: A Spirit-Filled Teaching Ministry in Acts 19.9
• Chapter 4: Is Luke a Reader-Response Critic? Luke’s Aesthetic Trajectory of Isaiah 49.6 in Acts 13.47
• Chapter 5: The Sending of the Seventy and Luke’s Purpose
• Chapter 6: Nonviolent Direct Action in Acts 2: The Holy Spirit, the Early Church, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Chapter 7: Enlarging the Pentecostal Hermeneutical Lens: Luke’s Use of Ecphrasis in Acts 2.1–4
• Chapter 8: Phoebe Palmer and her Pentecostal Protégées: Acts 2.17–18 and Pentecostal Woman Ministers
• Chapter 9: On Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit: A Lukan Emphasis
• Chapter 10: Luke and Paul: Co-Laborers . . . and Collaborators?
• Chapter 11: Pneumatological Function in the Narrative of Acts: Drawing F oundational Insight for a Pentecostal Missiology
• Chapter 12: The Gospel in the Old Testament According to Paul in Acts 13
• Chapter 13: What Simon Saw but Luke Didn’t Say: A Pentecostal Reading of the Samaritan Revival in Acts 8.9–24
• Chapter 14: Holy Boldness in Acts with Special Reference to Pauline-Lukan Intertextuality
• Chapter 15: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Teaching Ministry