Wade Burleson

Burleson attended college at Baylor University. He moved to Holdenville, Oklahoma in 1982 and became pastor at First Baptist Church, Holdenville, at age 21. He then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1987 to pastor at Sheridan Road Baptist Church and serve as Tulsa Police Chaplain. In 1992, Burleson moved from Texas to Enid, Oklahoma to pastor for Emmanuel Enid.[2] Burleson was appointed to serve on Oklahoma's Higher Education Program Board in 1996 by Governor Frank Keating.[6] In 2002, he was elected the President of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and he was reelected to the position in 2003.[7][2] He was elected to the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board in 2005. In 2006, his fellow members requested his removal from the board, citing "gossip, slander, lack of accountability and loss of trust."[2] A month later, IMB officers withdrew the request for removal. [8]

Burleson has publicly advocated for the removal of elected officials, advocating for their removal in court filings. These political stances were taken on church letterhead, as the office of Lead Pastor.[9][10] The effort Burleson advocated was later found to be "fatally-flawed" by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

On February 1, 2022, Burleson announced his candidacy as a Republican to represent Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, challenging incumbent Frank Lucas; he lost in the primary to Lucas.[11][12]

Christians for Biblical Equality awarded Burleson the International Priscilla and Aquila Award for his advocacy of gender equality.[13]

The termination of Sheri Klouda would not have been publicly known except for it being highlighted on Burleson's blog.[14]

Burleson was a speaker at a rally for women during the 2018 Convention in Dallas, telling messengers that "The New Testament we say we believe teaches us Jesus Christ sets women free to serve, to lead, to minister."[15]

Wade Burleson Speaking at the 2018 "For Such a Time As This" Rally in Dallas, Texas

In 2007, Burleson proposed to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to create a national data base tracking pastors and church leaders with sufficient evidence and those found guilty of sexual misconduct or abuse.[16] A second motion was proposed in 2011.[17] The purpose was to track offenders and not allow them an opportunity to offend within the SBC membership. TIME Magazine reported the denial of motion was in the Top Ten Most Underreported stories[18] in the nation in 2008. Eventually, in 2022, the SBC put into action Burleson’s original proposal and released the list of sexual predators.[19]

In 2005, Burleson used his blog, Istoria Ministries, to identify what he called "the continuing narrowing of the doctrinal parameters of fellowship and cooperation in the area of missions and evangelism by demanding conformity and agreement on nonessential doctrines."[20]

In May 2015, policies implemented by International Mission Board and spoken against by Burleson, leading to his censure by the IMB, were reversed.[21]

In May 2015, the IMB trustees reversed its controversial missionary qualification policies and implemented the changes that Burleson had recommended a decade earlier.[22] In May 2015, Christianity Today reported on the IMB policy reversals, writing, "Former IMB trustee Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma, clashed with other trustees over the policies. In 2006, a group of trustees tried to oust him from the IMB board, but that attempt failed."

Burleson received the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters for his radio and television ministry.[23]

Burleson spoke on the subject of respecting women during the 2009 regional New Baptist Covenant meeting in Norman, Oklahoma.[24]

Burleson was awarded the International Priscilla and Aquila Award for his advocacy of gender equality.[25]

Pastor Wade Burleson has been married to Dr. Rachelle Burleson, DNP, chief nursing officer at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center,[26] for over 30 years. They have four adult children and three grandchildren. In 2011, Burleson was briefly jailed in Mexico after causing a traffic collision that injured two.[27]

Burleson retired from Lead Pastor at Emmanuel Enid in 2022. [28]