Mildred Bangs Wynkoop

Mildred Olive Bangs Wynkoop (September 9, 1905, in Seattle, Washington – May 21, 1997, in Lenexa, Kansas) was an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, who served as an educator, missionary, theologian, and the author of several books. Donald Dayton indicates that "Probably most influential for a new generation of Holiness scholars has been the work of Nazarene theologian Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, especially her book A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism." The Wynkoop Center for Women in Ministry located in Kansas City, Missouri, is named in her honour. The Timothy L. Smith and Mildred Bangs Wynkoop Book Award of the Wesleyan Theological Society also jointly honours her "outstanding scholarly contributions."

Mildred Olive Bangs was born on 9 September 1905 in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Carl Oliver Bangs (born in Mandal, Norway) and Mery Dupertuis (born in Ollon, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland), both immigrants to the United States. She is the older sister of theologian Carl Bangs (born 5 April 1922 in Seattle, Washington; died 7 July 2002), the author of Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971; rev, ed. 1985); and also of Bernice Bangs Morgan, a former evangelist and Methodist home missions pastor in Alaska, who was at one time "the only woman minister in Alaska", and author of The Very Thought of Thee: Adventures of an Arctic Missionary (1952). She had three other sisters. Wynkoop's parents met Phineas Bresee, General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene on their honeymoon and became charter members of Seattle First Church of the Nazarene. Mildred Bangs entered Northwest Nazarene College and travelled in its collegiate quartet with president H. Orton Wiley on the weekends. Two years later, she followed Wiley to Pasadena College, (now Point Loma Nazarene University) to complete her bachelor's degrees. While studying at Pasadena College, Mildred met her future husband, fellow student Ralph Carl Wynkoop (born 5 October 1905 in Omaha, Nebraska; died 3 March 2001 at Kansas City, Missouri). On 27 December 1928 Mildred and Ralph were married at the Central Church of the Nazarene (now the Aurora Church of the Nazarene) in Seattle, Washington. Several ministers officiated at the wedding, including Rev. Alpin Bowes, pastor of the church, and Rev. Elsie Wallace, the first woman ordained by Phineas Bresee in the Church of the Nazarene. Their first home was Pasadena, California, where they were students at Pasadena College.

Wynkoop initially studied at Northwest Nazarene College (now Northwest Nazarene University) in Nampa, Idaho, where she was a student of Nazarene theologian H. Orton Wiley and biblical scholar Olive Winchester. After Wiley resigned to become president of Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University), she transferred also to Pasadena College, where she received her A. B. and Th. B. degrees in 1931. She earned a Bachelor of Divinity (B. D.) degree from Western Evangelical Seminary (now George Fox Evangelical Seminary) in 1952. Her thesis was entitled "A Biblical Study of Man in His Relationship to the Image of God." Additionally, she earned a M. Sc. from the University of Oregon in 1953; and a Doctorate in Theology (Th. D.) from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1955. Her thesis was entitled "A Historical and Semantic Analysis of Methods of Biblical Interpretation as They Relate to Views of Inspiration."

Influenced by early role models like Rev. Mrs. Elsie Wallace, a pastor of Seattle First Church of the Nazarene and briefly superintendent of the Northwest District of the Church of the Nazarene, and by Olive Winchester, theologian and academic dean at Northwest Nazarene College, Wynkoop walked through the doors of ministry that opened to her.

For about 20 years, until they decided that Mildred would begin graduate studies, the Wynkoops served together as co pastors or full time itinerant evangelists. They were co pastors of the Glassell Park Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles for four years until her graduation from Pasadena College in 1931, before pastoring the Church of the Nazarene at Ojai, California, for a year. Their next pastorate was for four years at Marshfield, Oregon (now Coos Bay). During this pastorate, Mildred was ordained in 1934 as an elder in the Church of the Nazarene by John W. Goodwin, General Superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene, and Ralph was ordained in 1935 by General Superintendent Roy T. Williams. Ralph and Mildred spent the next five years travelling as evangelists, mostly on the West Coast. They moved to Portland, Oregon, to serve the Brentwood Church of the Nazarene for nine years. When Mildred enrolled in doctoral studies in Chicago, Illinois, Ralph returned to evangelistic ministry.

Wynkoop's first teaching assignment was at Western Evangelical Seminary (now George Fox Evangelical Seminary) in Portland, Oregon, where she served as Professor of Theology from 1956 to December 1960. From 1961 to 1966 she taught in Japan where she was the founding President of Japan Nazarene Theological Seminary, and briefly in Taiwan. From 1966 to 1976 she served as Professor of Theology and Director of the Department of Missions at Trevecca Nazarene College (now Trevecca Nazarene University) in Nashville, Tennessee. From 1976 to 1979 Wynkoop was the Theologian in Residence at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

Wynkoop's theology has been described as "relational theology" by Michael Lodahl. Wynkoop's theological agenda was shaped initially by H. Orton Wiley, "America's leading exponent of Arminian theology". In John Wesley: Christian Revolutionary (1970) Wynkoop showed how the Wesleyan tradition's founder held together two strains torn apart by American fundamentalism: personal piety and social compassion. She urged a return to Wesley's classic formulation. She provided an account of her church's basic theology in Foundations of Wesleyan Arminian Theology(1967). Six years of missionary service in Taiwan and Japan stimulated Wynkoop's creative thinking on how to best communicate the theology of holiness—a process that resulted in her 1973 magnum opus A Theology of Love, a reinterpretation of the Wesleyan message for her time. Wynkoop was also influenced by the process theology of Daniel Day Williams. In A Theology of Love, she questioned the terminology of a "second work of grace." She taught sin was not a substance to be eradicated, but a wrong relationship with God. Wynkoop taught the decisive moment of salvation was justification and that believers received the Holy Spirit at that time. She did not connect the baptism of the Spirit with entire sanctification. Wynkoop advocated:

Wynkoop wrote "an admirable college history in The Trevecca Story, beginning with an analysis of the school's theological roots."

Wynkoop served as the President of the Wesleyan Theological Society in 1973. She received Trevecca Nazarene College's Faculty Member of the Year award and its President's Award for Distinguished Service in 1970; Certificate of Merit from Trevecca Nazarene College in 1976; Alumnus of the Year from Western Evangelical Seminary in 1980; Holiness Exponent of the Year award from the Christian Holiness Association in 1990; and Alumnus of the Year from Point Loma Nazarene College in 1992.

Wynkoop published articles in The Wesleyan Theological Journal, The Asbury Seminarian, Sanctification and Biblical Theology, Theological Trends, Preachers' Magazine, Herald of Holiness, Light and Life, and The Seminary Tower. Among her published articles are: