Mike Warnke has made his academic credentials a matter of high profile. His
postgraduate education may be plotted in this way:
1979: Warnke reports he’s working on a master’s in philosophy at
Valley Christian University in California, primarily through
correspondence courses. “He hopes eventually to obtain a
doctorate.”[1]
1982: On his album Higher Education, Warnke announces he’s completed
a master’s program and is working on a Ph.D. in philosophy.[2] When
the album is released, CCM magazine reports Warnke has finished his
Ph.D. in philosophy to go with two master’s degrees: one in Christian
education, the other in theology.[3] Says record company promo: “Mike
Warnke has an earned doctorate in philosophy and an honorary one in
humor.”[4]
1983: On a state financial form, Warnke lists his academic credits as:
“B.S. biblical studies, B.S. Christian education, M.S. Christian
education, and a Ph.D. Divinity—course work complete; awaiting
dissertation.”[5] No “earned doctorate” in philosophy, only one
master’s degree.
1985: On Warnke’s Stuff Happens album, the list goes like this: “I
have two bachelor’s degrees, two master’s degrees, and I’m working on
a Ph.D. at Assumption College.”[6]
1988: A Warnke promo sheet reads, “Mike studied counseling and
education at Valley Christian University, Clovis, California, where he
earned both his Bachelor and Master of Arts. Assumption College,
Clovis, California, conferred the honorary Doctor of Theology degree
upon him, and he is currently working on a Ph.D. in philosophy at
Assumption.”[7] No mention of the 1983 all-but-dissertation Divinity
degree, or the second master’s degree.
1989: On his Do You Hear Me?! video, Warnke says “I have two
bachelor’s degrees. I have two master’s degrees, and a Doctor of
Divinity from Antioch University.”[8]
Here is the list of Mike Warnke’s academic credits as we have been
able to document them:
1965: San Bernardino Valley College (a junior college)—one
semester.[9]
1970: Navy Cardiopulmonary School—one-year school, graduated
10/5/70.[10]
1975: Trinity Bible College (unaccredited)—nine-month school,
graduated spring, ’75. Confirmed by daughter of school president and
several students.[11]
1980: Valley Christian University—awarded bachelor’s degree in
counseling on 9/23/80. This school (also known as Assumption College)
was a family-run Bible school in Fresno, California. According to Mrs.
Murray Norris, wife of the college founder, there is no record that
Warnke received any other degree from Valley Christian/Assumption.[12]
?: Antioch University—the school by this name in Yellow Springs,
Ohio, and its branches in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara deny Warnke
was ever a student. None grant doctorates.[13] Interestingly, Warnke’s
friend, Bishop Richard Morrill, was connected with an Antioch
Christian College in Studio City, California.[14] Bishop Elijah Coady,
friend of the late Morrill, thinks Antioch may have been one of
several schools Morrill was associated with that existed only on
paper. In 1990, Morrill turned Antioch College over to a Dr. G. J.
Thompson in Denver, Colorado.[15] When the state of Colorado asked for
names of officials in the church body overseeing the school, Thompson
responded with a list that included Rev. Dr. R. Morrill, and “the
Right Reverend Michael Warnke” of Burgin, Kentucky.[16] Morrill, who
consecrated Warnke a bishop, may have also granted Mike his 1989
Doctor of Divinity.
Postscript: On his 1991 marriage license for his fourth marriage,
Warnke says he has completed twenty-two years of education.[17]
NOTES:
1. Don Cusic, “Mike Warnke, Jester in the King’s Court,”
Contemporary Christian Music (July 1979): 28. [return]
2. Mike and Rose Warnke. Higher Education. Myrrh, 1982. [return]
3. “People and Places,” Contemporary Christian Music (July 1982). [return]
4. “Dr. Warnke Speaks Out on Alligators,” ad for Higher Education,
Myrrh, 1982. [return]
5. Application for Recognition of Exemption, The Holy Orthodox
Catholic Church in Kentucky, signed 9/26/83 by Rev. Fr. Mike Warnke. [return]
6. Mike Warnke. Stuff Happens. Dayspring, 1985. [return]
7. “Mike Warnke Bio Sheet,” undated, but refers to a 1988 album. [return]
8. Mike Warnke. Do You Hear Me? Dayspring/Zoe Corporation, 1989. [return]
9. Registrar SBVC, interview, confirmed by Prof. Harold Chandler. [return]
10. Mike Warnke naval records. [return]
11. Eunice Duncombe Walker is daughter of Trinity founder Charles
Duncombe. Warnke classmates interviewed include Carolyn Warnke, John
and Vicki Jo Witty, Bill Fisher, Karen Siegal, Clarence Benes, and
others. [return]
12. Interview with Mrs. Murray Norris, wife of college founder, who
conducted us on a personal examination of Warnke’s Valley Christian
University records, in Fresno, in January of 1992. [return]
13. Letters to author from registrars. [return]
14. Gary L. Ward, et al., ed., Independent Bishops: An International
Directory (Detroit: Apogee Books), 283. Coady interview. [return]
15. Letter from Richard Morrill, dated 10/6/90, on letterhead from
Antioch Christian College, 4058 Tujunga Avenue, Suite 1, Studio City,
CA, transferring “Administration and Governing of the College to: Dr.
Garrison John Thompson,” effective 11/1/90. [return]
16. Letter from Dr. Timothy Grieder, Colorado Commission on Higher
Education, to Thompson, 1/16/91; Letter from Thompson to Grieder,
1/22/91. Bishop Warnke listed under category “American Orthodox
Catholic Church (Holy Synod of America)”. [return]
17. License and certificate of marriage, Santa Cruz County, CA, 18
Nov. 1991. [return]
original filename: CSM0983A.TXT
“Higher Education?”
Release A, 7 November 1997
HTML rev. 06/18/1998
This file was previously released as EDUCATN.TXT as part of WARNKE.ZIP
on the JPUSA BBS in July 1992. Formatting changed, minor spelling and
punctuation errors in previous version corrected.
Copyright © 1992 by Jon Trott and Mike Hertenstein. This file may be
reproduced on electronic media and communications services without
charge or permission from the author(s), so long as the wording of the
text remains unaltered. For additional information about our
publications, please contact <http://www.cornerstonemag.com/> or write
to: Cornerstone, 939 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago, IL 60640-5706, U.S.A.
[end-of-file]
