Oklahoma Baptist University is pleased to announce that Dr. Bruce Perkins, associate professor of Christian education and director of OBU’s Prison Divinity Program, will be the 2025 inductee into the OBU Walter O. Mason, Jr. Kingdom Diversity Hall of Fame.
This prestigious Hall of Fame recognizes and honors individuals whose lives are dedicated to promoting and advancing Kingdom diversity. This is rooted in the value of people from all nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues, as described in Revelation 7:9.
The ceremony will be held on the OBU campus in Room 219-220 of the Geiger Center at 3 p.m. on January 18, 2025. The public is invited to attend this free event. For planning purposes, guests are asked to RSVP by January 12 at okbu.cc/kdhof-rsvp. According to B.J. Glover, OBU vice president for university culture, the attire is “dress to impress,” and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served at the event, which will be in an award show format.
Perkins has dedicated his career to fostering positive change for those in need of greater support. Through his efforts, Perkins has become a pivotal figure in the mission to bring transformative education to Oklahoma’s incarcerated population.
Perkins’ ministry began in 1968 when he felt called to serve at Falls Creek while attending a youth camp with his home church in Frederick. After starting as a youth minister and later becoming a pastor, he served four Texas churches over 25 years, including Memorial Baptist Church in Grapevine, now The Church at the Cross.
His career expanded into educational leadership when he became president of Shiloh Christian School in Arkansas. He then held roles at OBU, where he served in enrollment management and as a member of the university’s executive cabinet.
In January 2020, OBU President Dr. Heath Thomas asked Perkins to launch the OBU Prison Divinity Program (PDP). This initiative offers a fully accredited Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies to inmates at the Lexington Correctional Center, marking Oklahoma’s first in-person, four-year degree program for incarcerated men. Through Perkins’ leadership, the PDP operates entirely on external funding, which he has tirelessly helped secure through donors and church partnerships.
The program’s first cohort will graduate in May 2025. Many of these graduates, designated as “field ministers” by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, will be deployed to other facilities across the state to serve as spiritual leaders and agents of cultural transformation.
Under Perkins’ direction, the PDP’s impact is evident. Incarcerated students are actively engaged in evangelism and ministry within the prison walls, with some pastoring churches, leading worship, and conducting discipleship classes. There are 58 inmates currently enrolled. Over 700 men have committed their lives to Christ in the last 18 months.
“Bruce has created a learning environment where everyone is accepted, in a culture that is typically divided by race, crime or sentence, because of the love of God and the call to love your brother,” said Jared Lee, OBU’s assistant director of the PDP. “I’ve seen him advocate for students, help with complex reconciliations and celebrate their successes in meaningful ways.”
Perkins, who is in his 19th academic year at OBU, sees his work as a continuation of his lifelong mission. When he accepted his role with the Prison Divinity Program, he said, “I truly believe God has been preparing me for this opportunity for decades.”
Perkins said, “There is no greater expression of the transformational education OBU offers than that in the Prison Divinity Program.”
“Dr. Perkins was an outstanding nominee for this award,” Glover said. “Not only did he meet every qualification we required, but his life work embodies the qualities we want to honor at OBU.”
For more information, contact Glover at beverly.glover@okbu.edu or 405.323.2940.
