Wade Burleson

Wade Burleson is a pastor, writer, and historian who lives in Enid, Oklahoma. He is a native Oklahoman, born in 1961 in Oklahoma City, but he spent his early years in Texas, receiving his Bachelor of Science in Business (Baylor University, Waco and East Central University, Ada) and is enrolled and advanced degree work in historiography from Southern New Hampshire University. His wife, Dr. Rachelle Burleson, DNP (Vanderbilt), APN-CNS, served as a Professor of Nursing at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond and is now the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at St. Mary's Medical Regional Center. Wade has served as Lead Pastor of Emmanuel Enid since 1992.

Wade has published several books and has written over 2000 articles on theology, history, and current events, of which many are published in professional periodicals. He is an expert on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and is working with a team assisting Booth's descendants in attempting to obtain DNA from the "body in the barn" the government identified as John Wilkes Booth. He writes about theology as part of his career but enjoys creating narratives of history as a hobby.

Wade gives multi-media talks to civic, genealogical, and charitable organizations. His most requested multi-media presentations include (1). White Gold: Thomas Jefferson and the Great Salt Plains; (2). A Transient Abode: Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, and Boston Corbett; (3). The Greatest Game Ever Played: Carlisle and Army and the Origins of the NFL; and (4). Red Earth Courage: The First Secret Mission of the Civil War.

A student of history and genealogy, Wade has written extensively for his immediate family on the lives of their ancestors. On the maternal side of his family, Wade is the direct grandson (16x) of Geoffrey Chaucer (AD c. 1343 - 1400), the father of English literature. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Charles T. Cherry (1801 - 1893), immigrated to America from London, England in 1831 as a missionary to pioneer Sunday Schools in the Mississippi Valley. Charles later worked as an agent for the American Sunday School Union and became an author of several Christian books written for children. Wade’s paternal ancestors, the Burlesons, also immigrated to America from England, settling in the Carolinas during the early 1700’s. Wade’s great-grandfather (7x), John Crawford Burleson (1729-1776) served under George Washington and died in the Battle of Trenton in December 1776. Wade is a cousin to Rufus Columbus Burleson (1823-1901), President of Baylor University and Pastor of FBC Houston, and to General Edward Burleson (1798-1851), former Vice-President of the Republic of Texas. Wade’s maternal grandfather, F.T.D. Cherry (1912-1970), was an All-Conference tight end and track star for the University of Oklahoma and became a Christian evangelist. Wade’s father, Paul Burleson, served as pastor of eight churches in Oklahoma and Texas from 1950-2007, including the influential Southcliff Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas from 1976-1982. Wade’s mother, Mary Burleson, is a retired Senior Editor for Random House.

Wade’s passion for reading has led him to become an antiquarian book collector. His favorite books from other centuries include Isaac Newton’s The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms; John Gill’s God’s Everlasting Love to His Elect; and Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Wade’s favorite modern books include Laura Hildebrand’s Unbroken, Paul Young’s Crossroads, and Eric Metaxes’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Other than reading, Wade enjoys time spent with friends and family. He learned from his friend, Paul Young, author of The Shack, a principle that guides his life and ministry: “There is no moment and no person more important than this moment and this person before whom I stand.”

Wade believes every person has a story, and his non-profit ministry Istoria is designed to intersect peoples' stories with the Greatest Story ever told so that people might develop a deep and abiding love for His Story.