Wesley Chapel Staff

Senior Pastor
Dr. Ronald E. Smith
Seminary President

Ron is a 1977 graduate of Asbury College, 1982 (M.Div.) graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary, and a 1990 (Th.M.) graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. He completed the Masters of Philosophy degree at the graduate school of Drew University, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Theological and Religious Studies from the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University.

Ron is an ordained deacon and elder in the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist church, and has served under appointment of the Bishop since 1982. Ron pastored for eleven years in New Jersey before serving for three years as a Fellow at the Francis Asbury Society. He then served as Executive Director of the Society for two years. On January 15, 1998 Ron was elected president of Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. In February 2008 Ron planted a church, Wesley Chapel, and is serving as Senior Pastor and President of the Seminary.

Ron has been privileged to speak in a wide arena of denominational settings around the world. He has served as a keynote speaker in a variety of regional and national meetings for denominations and consortiums in the broader Wesleyan world. Ron has also delivered several distinguished lecture series at different colleges, universities, and theological seminaries, such as the noted Thomas F. Staley Distinguished Lecture Series.

Ron has served on such boards as World Gospel Mission and the Francis Asbury Society and, for several years, served as Chairman of the Board of OMS International.

He has also written and taught professionally on subjects in the field of the History of Christian Doctrine. His work has focused on Evangelicalism and Modernity; The Intellectual History of the Nineteenth Century; Forging the American Evangelical Tradition, Perfectionism and Pre-Millennialism; and, The Theological Lifework of Dr. Henry Clay Morrison. He is currently working on a Pneumatology for the Francis Asbury Society’s Systematic Theology Project.

Ron is married to Dorena (Ritzler) and together they have two daughters, Katie and Laura.

Pastor of Member Care
Dr. Ray Easley
Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Ray Easley serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Wesley Biblical Seminary and is the chief academic officer at the school.

Ray was born in southwest Oklahoma and graduated from high school in Alma, Arkansas. He has earned degrees from Covenant Foundation College (Bachelor of Theology), Anderson University School of Theology (Master of Divinity), and the University of Arkansas (Doctor of Education). He has traveled to a number of states and international countries in academic administration consultancy.

Ray has served as a founding board member of the Mississippi Family Council now called the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. He has also been involved in helping plant multiple churches, including DaySpring Community Church of the Nazarene located in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Ray has years of both pastoral and academic experience.

Ray is married to Dianne (Ezell) of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Together they have two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

Pastor of Member Care
Dr. Dan Burnett
Director of Seminary Library Services

Dr. Dan Burnett has served in a variety of ministry assignments in locations ranging from rural Kansas to Oxford, England. A graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University, Nazarene Theological Seminary, and the University of Missouri, he has worked mainly in the two areas of pastoral ministry and theological education. He currently serves Wesley Biblical Seminary as director of library services and assistant professor of pastoral ministry. Dan’s wife, Joyce, is a member of the Wesley Chapel music staff. They are the parents of two daughters—Julianne Burnett-Gonzalez, who lives with her husband Juan in Saltillo, Mexico; and Jennifer, an undergraduate theology student in Manchester, England.

Teaching Pastor
Dr. John Oswalt
Research Professor of Old Testament

Children's Pastor
Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Luman
Professor of Discipleship & Christian Education

I love teaching any age and every age, both children and adults. My passion is to pass to this rising generation the faith given to us in the Holy Scripture. I’ve served as both Minister of Education and Children’s pastor at Lakeshore Congregational Methodist Church. I’ve staffed at children’s ministry at Indian Springs Holiness Camp. At Wesley Biblical Seminary, I teach introductory Bible and theology courses and the classes within the M.Div. teaching concentration. I hope to be teaching somebody something until the day I die.

Pastor of Worship
Marty Parks

Marty Parks is Worship Pastor for Wesley Chapel where he oversees and leads worship services and directs the choir and instrumentalists. He is a composer, producer and arranger with over 500 songs and arrangements in print. In addition to being a product developer for a major Christian publishing company, he is a frequent workshop leader and conference speaker. He and his wife, Vicki, have four children and live in Madison.

Youth/College Pastor
J Nelson

For the first 18 years of my life I made my home in Columbus, MS with my parents, David & Mary Anna Nelson, as well as my brother Ren. After high school I moved down the road 30 miles to Mississippi State where I majored in education, but more interesting than that...MSU is where I met my wife Wesley and where I got my start in Student Ministry. After college I landed in Pelahatchie, MS where I worked with Shiloh UMC Student Ministries as well as attended Wesley Biblical Seminary. And finally in my last semester of seminary Wesley and I moved to Jackson and helped start the Student Ministries here at Wesley Chapel. And so here we are.... Wesley and I have been married since 2005, have a house right in the heart of Jackson, love working with the students of Wesley Chapel, and will be parents of a baby girl, Ella Katherine, in July. It's an exciting time.