PASTORAL STAFF

Margaret (Maggie) Ball, who was raised in Guymon, Oklahoma, attended Oklahoma City University on a Great Plan Scholarship, graduating in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She earned a master of divinity degree from Phillips Graduate Seminary in 1986 and was ordained an elder in the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1988.

Ball came to OCU from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where she served as district superintendent for the United Methodist Church. Previously, she has served as associate director of Skyline Urban Ministry, chaplain at Integris Baptist Medical Center and minister of care at United Methodist Church of the Servant, all in Oklahoma City. Ball was elected as a clergy delegate to the church’s General and Jurisdictional Conferences for 2000 and 2004 and has been elected to serve in these capacities again in 2008.

Ball is married to Rev. F. Anthony (Tony) Zahn, who is the Executive Director of The Education and Employment Ministry (TEEM) in Oklahoma City. They have five adult children.


Rev. Jennifer Long
Jennifer was appointed to OCU as Director of Religious Life and Campus Minister in July 2005. She is an OCU alum with the graduating class of 1992 in Mass Communications and spent time working in radio in Massachusetts. After receiving her call into ministry Jennifer traveled to Illinois to study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and then to Berkeley, California to focus on worship and the arts. In 2000 she returned to Oklahoma with her quirky, yet welcoming style. Jennifer invites students, staff, and faculty to bring their questions, concerns, and joys as they journey through life together.

Jennifer and her husband Jason Bush live in the Oklahoma City area.


Rev. Rodney Newman
A native of Coweta, Oklahoma, Rodney graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in history. From there he traveled east where he completed his master of divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1989. Returning to Oklahoma, he served as associate pastor at Crown Heights United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City and Boston Avenue UMC in Tulsa then as senior pastor at Trinity UMC in Purcell and at Crown Heights. He joined the staff at OCU in June of 2007 upon his appointment as University Chaplain. Newman lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Ann, and children, Carus and Rachel.