[4] The university contained schools of management and ministry and created North Carolina's first state-accredited online MBA program using avatar technology with a virtual business internship experiences for students.
[5] Following an all-night prayer service with well-known former Methodist Episcopal Church South evangelist Jim H. Green (1880-1955), the group decided to reopen the Greensboro Bible and Literary Institute on January 15, 1932 in the same facilities with many of the same teachers and students.
The college remained non-denominational while promoting a distinctively Wesleyan-Holiness view on entire sanctification, with fellow Methodist Evangelist John R. Church as its first board chairman.
A small "chain of tabernacles" was created so ministry students would have inexpensive venues to preach and conduct revival services during the Great Depression.
John Wesley University was a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and competed at the Division 1 level.
Along with recruitment and team building, Pierce solely negotiated usage of AJ Stadium for home matches, and the local Hartley YMCA for training facilities.
In the university's inaugural year, Pierce assumed the NAIA Southern States Conference game schedule from Virginia Intermont, whose campus closed.