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Jack King
You may not be surprised to know that Jack King has a heart for Asbury Theological Seminary.
Knowing that, you may not be surprised to know that he’s a donor to the Seminary.
What might surprise you, however, is that he’s also a student on the Seminary’s Wilmore campus.
Natives from Missouri, Jack and his wife Ellie have owned and operated three retail businesses during their lifetime. And after more than thirty years of their profitable success, Jack retired and built their dream house in October 2003. Active in church, foreign missions and marriage conferences, Jack was enjoying his time serving God in a local capacity.
But it wasn’t until traveling away from his local roots to Africa for a mission trip in February 2004 that Jack heard a call from God to leave his newly built home and attend Asbury Theological Seminary.
“We then came in June 2004,” he recalls quickly.
After Jack began classes, he was amazed at the quality of theological education he was receiving. “It’s not just the curriculum—the professors are outstanding. There is also great fellowship and a sense of community. The working of the Holy Spirit here is so prevalent.”
And as he still considers Missouri his home, Jack wants other individuals from there who are called to full-time ministry to have the opportunity to attend Asbury Seminary as well.
“We set up an endowed scholarship at the Seminary so that more Missouri students can come here,” Jack explains, adding that his desire is for well-trained United Methodist pastors to impact Missouri for Christ. He states, “As the seminary goes, there goes the Church.”
Jack and Ellie also plan to return to Missouri upon his graduation to serve at a United Methodist church. He says he feels strongly that his purpose in pursuing his master of divinity degree is to serve the United Methodist Church as a pastor and through their endowed scholarship at Asbury Seminary.
“It’s my calling,” he simply states.
And this time around, Jack will be building an entirely different kind of home in Missouri—one that will begin with himself and Asbury Seminary, but soon will fill with the family of God.