Hobart Baumann Amstutz (18 September 1896 – 26 February 1980) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the American

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

and the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

, elected in 1956.

Early years

He was born in Henrietta, Ohio, United States. He graduated in 1915 from Oberlin

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of the ...

, and attended

Baldwin-Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace Co ...

for two years before being drafted into the army in World War I. After the war, he earned in 1921 his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and in 1923 his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree from

Garrett Theological Seminary Garrett may refer to: Places ;United States * Garrett, Illinois * Garrett, Indiana * Garrett, Kentucky (multiple places) ** Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community ** Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated commun ...

and M.A. from Northwestern University. In 1938, Baldwin-Wallace College awarded him an honorary D.D. Hobart had 2 brothers Clarence John "Stutz" Amstutz and Melvin Amstutz. Clarence had 3 children C. John Amstutz, Grethen (Amstutz) Timmons and Virginia (Amstutz) Wilhelm.

Missionary service

1942-45-ForeverBegin-p79-Amstutz-Thompson-SimeRdCamp

Rev. Amstutz served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

beginning in 1926. For many years, he was pastor of the Wesley Methodist Church in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. In 1942, he was imprisoned by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, spending three and a half years in a prison camp. From 1956 to 1964, he served as elected Methodist Bishop for Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Burma) and also served as founding President of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in Singapore. Shortly after retirement, he was called to be Methodist Bishop of Pakistan from 1964 to 1968, where he succeeded in creating the Church of Pakistan, an amalgamation of four Protestant churches.

Death

Bishop Amstutz died on 26 February 1980, aged 83, in Claremont, California. He was survived by his wife, Celeste; a son, Bruce, who was serving as a U.S. diplomat in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

; a daughter Beverly, and a brother, Clarence.

References

*Oberlin Alumni Magazine, The, Oberlin, Ohio, March/April 1980, pp. 43–44. *Oberlin High School Alumni ''"In Memoriam"'

*The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Churc

*J. Bruce Amstutz (son), memoirs.

External links

* 1896 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Methodist bishops American Methodist missionaries American expatriates in Pakistan American expatriates in Singapore American Methodist bishops Bishops of The Methodist Church (USA) Methodist missionaries in Pakistan Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni Methodist missionaries in Singapore Northwestern University alumni People from Lorain County, Ohio World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army soldiers Christians from Ohio American prisoners of war in World War II {{US-bishop-stub

Early years

Missionary service

Death

See also

References

External links