Phillip Modlin ’24 M.A.M.M.
Lead Pastor | Amplify Church
Willow Spring, North Carolina
“Our church was growing so quickly, and I needed a connection point to help me determine my next level of leadership,” Pastor Phillip Modlin says. “At probably the busiest time in my life, after 20 years in ministry and with five kids at home, I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Missional Multiplication degree program at Olivet Nazarene University. That turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Pastor Modlin is the lead pastor for Amplify Church in North Carolina. Amplify seeks to equip people to live out their God-given purpose and amplify the beauty of Jesus to a broken world. Founded in 1939, the church relocated to a new neighborhood in 2020 — under Pastor Modlin’s leadership — and grew from 300 to 1,300 people in five years.
What are the distinctives of Olivet’s degree program for you?
“This was my first experience with online learning, and I really liked it. The program is well organized and designed to pull the students together well. Dr. Jeff Stark of ONU continually challenged us as our professor. He is an academic who also serves churches in the real world. His vulnerability and ability were unexpected benefits for me.”
How has this degree program influenced your life and ministry?
“In my studies at ONU, I learned how to prioritize my responsibilities and activities, how to lead well and how to take care of myself in the process. The rhythms I built for success in my degree program continue to be the rhythms for the other areas of my life. Now, I’m much better at leading my congregation in what we care about. I also do a better job of learning from people I don’t always agree with.”
What is becoming clearer to you as a person and a professional?
“Mission and passion to serve well can outpace reality. What I want to do can overtake what I should do or need to do. Through ONU’s program, I learned a lot about how to make sure that what God is doing around me doesn’t eat away at what He is doing in me.”
Melony Paulus
Co-Pastor | Valley Mission Church of the Nazarene
Bedford, Indiana
“I wanted to pursue an advanced degree without putting a strain on my family and ministry,” says Pastor Melony Paulus, co-pastor of Valley Mission Church of the Nazarene in Indiana. “With ONU’s generous discount for pastors, I enrolled in ONU’s Master of Arts program in August 2022. I quickly became aware that Missional Multiplication was the emphasis I needed for my ministry.”
Valley Mission Church is a place where people can be more, do more, love more. As a Great Commission church and part of the global community of faith, this church takes the Good News of life in Jesus Christ to people everywhere. Pastor Melony co-pastors the church with her husband, Pastor John Paulus. 
What are the distinctives of Olivet’s degree program for you?
“The Master of Arts in Missional Multiplication is not offered by very many universities. In addition, I’m also simultaneously working on my M.Div. with ONU and will finish both degrees in 2026. This course of study is challenging my thought processes. Even though the program is all online, we still have face-to-face conversations, discussions and debates. Interacting with humans rather than with an electronic device is a blessing.”
What is the importance of this degree program for you?
“I’m passionate about reaching out to our community, and that is a gift I’ve received from this degree program. I didn’t understand the importance of that before now. Our churches need an in-filling of what it means to love well inside and what it means to love well outside, and how to bring both worlds together. Every pastor should go through this program because its content is important for every ministry.”
What is becoming clearer to you as a person and a professional?
“During my time at ONU, I have learned the value of mentoring children and adults — of coming alongside people and helping them understand new ways of thinking. I currently mentor eight women in their areas of ministry. In addition, our church is in our third year offering what we call Wiggly Wednesday. During Wiggly Wednesday, we provide meals, activities and a Bible lesson. We have seen over 100 different children with a weekly attendance of up to 50 children. Our Wiggly Wednesday has recently expanded to include tutoring for up to 25 children from our local elementary school. My studies at ONU are shaping, refining and challenging me in ways that are immensely impacting my ministry. I have a deeper understanding of the value of learning, growing and being challenged.”
Dylan Robinson
Lead Pastor and Co-Founder | The Well Church
Springfield, Missouri
“I had enrolled two other times at other graduate schools, but the timing just wasn’t right for me,” says Pastor Dylan Robinson, lead pastor and co-founder of The Well Church in Missouri. “While I was at a conference, I asked God to give me a connection for pursuing my master’s degree. I met Dr. Jeff Stark at the ONU booth and called him the next week. He became my trusted source and gave me the peace I needed to start the Master of Arts in Missional Multiplication degree program at ONU.”
Planted in 2016 with Pastor Robinson and Pastor Selena Freeman as founders, The Well Church now has two campuses in Springfield and Marshfield, Missouri. A church for all people, this is a church where people are found by the grace of God, filled by the power of the Holy Spirit and freed to love like Christ. Today, there are more than 1,400 people who call this their church home.
What was your motivation for pursuing this degree at this time in your life?
“I’ve gotten my education along the way during my ministry. After we planted The Well Church, I knew there was more I needed to know. I knew I needed to deepen my education and learn as much as I can.”
How is this degree program influencing your life and ministry?
“I’m applying what I’m learning in my local context with a theological framework, and I’m implementing what I’m learning. This program is more than just completing assignments and classes. We’re evaluating what we’re doing in real-life applications and getting better as we’re doing that.”
What is becoming clearer to you as a person and a professional?
“I don’t know as much as I think I do, and I haven’t done as much as I think I’ve done. God radically transformed my life when I was 16. The Holy Spirit keeps revealing to me that we need to get back to the basics and be a light to the neighbors around us. That is a surprisingly convicting process.”
Graduate Studies | School of Theology and Christian Ministry
Olivet Nazarene University believes in education for ministry professionals and offers several advanced degree programs for students to pursue a graduate-level education. The graduate programming of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry exists “to educate, equip and resource the Church and her leaders to bear faithful witness to the Kingdom of God through the work of ministry and theological reflection.” The University accomplishes this mission by providing an excellent education at an affordable price. Substantial discounts are available for pastoral and ministry leaders.
Practical
These degrees are designed to prepare leaders for specific ministry contexts while addressing pertinent cultural issues:
- Master of Arts in Pastoral Leadership
- Master of Arts in Missional Multiplication
- Master of Arts in Urban Ministry
- Master of Arts in Family Ministry
Preparatory
These degrees are designed to provide students with a comprehensive, robust theological, Biblical and practical application:
- Master of Arts in Ministerial Studies
- Master of Arts in Christian Ministry
- Master of Ministry in Spanish
- Doctor of Education: Ethical Leadership
The Master of Divinity degree can be paired with several Olivet degrees, providing an opportunity to earn two graduate degrees through study at Olivet.
For more information and to enroll in Olivet’s graduate degree programs, call 800-638-1463 or email admissions@Olivet.edu.
