The Ministry of Presence: The Leadership Journey of Keri Bostwick

Encouragement over perfection, presence over position

A Childhood of Callings

The notes were halting and uneven, but carried by gusto and conviction with every keystroke. Behind her, her father—the pastor—fueled her courage with a steady refrain: “Yes. Amen. Thank you, Jesus!”

It was a small moment, but one that foreshadowed the steady presence that would define Keri Bostwick’s life.

Fast forward to today, and that once-nervous girl now serves as the Provost of Oklahoma Wesleyan University—a role shaped by years of teaching, mentoring, and guiding others toward insight and steadiness. Before stepping into academic leadership, she spent seventeen years teaching English in the Bartlesville Public School system, from seventh-grade classrooms to AP Literature. Her influence now reaches far beyond a single room—she supports faculty, walks alongside students, and helps cultivate the kind of learning environment she once admired in her own childhood teachers.

And through it all, the thread remains the same: the quiet strength of encouragement, the conviction that presence matters, and the belief that God uses ordinary moments to shape extraordinary lives.

That belief took root early. Keri’s parents modeled encouragement and consistency in ways that felt both gentle and powerful. Her father lifted spirits through stories and simple kindness—even the family’s mail carrier felt noticed and cared for during brief exchanges on the porch. Her mother, a labor and delivery nurse, embodied vocation as service—an assignment carried out with grit and devotion. Together, they taught her that leadership isn’t about authority. It’s about how faithfully you show up for people.

The Spark of Influence

Teaching wasn’t something Keri stumbled into—it was something she sensed as early as age four. While other children imagined glamorous futures, Keri imagined a classroom. After preschool each day, she returned home and imitated her teacher’s posture, cadence, and presence. Those details weren’t small to her; they were sacred signs of someone shaping minds and spirits.

As she grew older, literature became the place where she explored nuance, perspective, and possibility. In college, she discovered her love for ambiguity—the gray spaces where meaning opens, shifts, and expands. She believed deeply that words could reshape how people understood the world.

Later, in her own classroom, transparency became her teaching rhythm. “When people give me compliments,” she reflects, “I realize the good they see in me is really Jesus.” Over time, former students wrote to say one lecture or phrase had stayed with them—sometimes years after graduation. She often didn’t remember the students—she had taught hundreds—but she recognized a deeper truth: God was planting seeds through her that would take root long after the moment passed.

Her work was never about chasing titles. It was about offering steadiness, hope, and truth—faithfully, one student at a time.

“When I’ve had to take the loneliest steps, God reminded me I was never alone.”

Detours, Hiccups & Pivots

But determination doesn’t erase difficulty; it often sharpens it. Each step in leadership refined her convictions.

Keri admits her early instinct was to “go for the jugular” when confronting injustice. Quick to speak, quick to defend. But leadership taught her a different rhythm: to listen first. “That Keri had to learn to be silent,” she says. “Only after that did leadership feel less like an ill-fitting garment and more like the work I was meant to steward.”

She faced bias, dismissiveness, and other “-isms” along the way. But the greatest obstacle, she says, was herself. “I had to realize it isn’t about me. Only God can set things in order.”

When she became provost, she asked her faculty to hold her accountable with a simple challenge: “Love me enough to tell me when I’m getting it wrong.” Leadership became less about defending her voice and more about creating space for others.

The sudden loss of her father deepened her belief in the power of presence. Even the family’s mail carrier came to his funeral—a reminder that small kindnesses echo beyond what we ever see. “Even in the hardest steps,” she says, “God never left me alone.”

My role isn’t to be the center of attention—it’s to help people discover who they already are.”

Vision & Voice – Leadership & Purpose

For Keri, leadership isn’t about hierarchy—it’s about transformation. As a teacher, she watched understanding dawn on students’ faces. As a provost, she sees it in faculty who feel supported and empowered. The thread is always the same: create space where others can grow.

“You’ve heard me say it before,” she notes. “‘We are all doing a good work.’ My role isn’t to be the center of attention—it’s to help people discover who they already are.” Her love of literature shapes her leadership. Just as stories reveal truth gradually, leadership reveals potential when people feel safe, supported, and challenged. “When I’m transparent—sharing my faith and my flaws—it changes the dynamic. People realize they don’t have to be perfect to lead. They just have to be present.”

Faith, Friendship & Story – The Personal Side of Leadership

Faith is the ground beneath her leadership. Scripture and prayer have steadied her in seasons of joy, grief, and uncertainty.

Her mentors—women who walked ahead of her—shaped her deeply, speaking grace, challenge, and peace into her journey. She now encourages young women to seek those same multi-generational relationships.

Her ministry of presence extends to her home. As a mother, she models attentiveness—late-night talks, quiet prayers, simple acts of showing up. She hopes her children will remember not perfection, but availability: steady, listening, faithful.

This rhythm traces back to her father, who read Scripture and stories aloud every night. “He believed you should do everything you can to be the best part of someone’s day,” she says. That conviction became one of the deepest threads in her leadership. Even in college, she gravitated to literature’s gray spaces—the way perspective shapes meaning. “There isn’t always a right answer,” she explains. “I’m always exploring what is being taught and what is being learned.”

“You don’t have to be perfect to lead. You just have to be present.”

Wisdom & Mentorship – Passing the Spark Forward

Keri’s leadership has always been about influence—how one life can breathe courage into another. That’s why mentorship is not just something she values; it’s something she practices.

She remembers early in her career when a simple gesture left a lasting mark. Thursdays at Central Middle School were baked potato day, and Representative Earl Sears—then the principal—often bought her lunch. “It sounds so simple,” she recalls, “but it made me feel honored during a season when I really needed encouragement.” That small act became a model for the way she now invests in others: quietly, intentionally, and with presence.

Now she encourages young women to seek multi-generational relationships—people who can challenge, encourage, and speak truth into their journey. “There’s a richness in walking alongside someone who has lived more life,” she says. “Their experience can steady you when you’re uncertain.”

Her advice for emerging leaders is simple:

Find your people.
Lean into their wisdom.
Let their faithfulness give you courage.

Because leadership isn’t about having all the answers.

It’s about walking together, growing together, and leaving a trail of encouragement for those who follow.

“My hope is that people remember not what I achieved, but how I encouraged them.”

Legacy & The Work Worth Doing

For Dr. Bostwick, leadership has never been about perfection—it has always been about presence. From the young girl with the oversized accordion to the provost guiding an institution, her journey has been shaped by faithfulness in ordinary moments.

“God reminds me that we are not meant to walk alone,” she says. “We are made for community!”

Her legacy will live in the students who found confidence, the colleagues who felt recognized, and the young leaders who found courage because she chose to be present.

In a world that often tells women they are not enough, Keri’s life offers a steady reminder:

We are known.
We are entrusted.
And we are capable of the work worth doing.

She listens.
She teaches.
She leads.
She points others to the One who guides her.

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