Rueben Philip Job (February 7, 1928 – January 3, 2015) was an American

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

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 1984, he served the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

episcopal area An episcopal area in the United Methodist Church (UMC) is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is similar to a diocese in other Christian denominations. Each annual conference in the UMC is wit ...

and retired in 1992.

Birth and family

Job was born in

Jamestown, North Dakota Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and i ...

. On August 20, 1953, he married Beverly Nadine Ellerbeck of

George, Iowa George is a city in Lyon County, Iowa, United States, along the Little Rock River. The population was 1,077 at the time of the 2020 census. The ZIP Code for George is 51237. Geography George is located at (43.342523, -96.001157). According t ...

. They were the parents of four children: Deborah, Ann, Philip, and David, and had seven grandchildren. Job died in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Education

Job earned the

B.A. 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 years ...

degree from

Westmar College Westmar University was a private four-year liberal arts college in Le Mars, Iowa, United States. It permanently closed on November 21, 1997. Westmar University was founded in 1887 as the Northwestern Normal School and Business College by Jaco ...

in 1954 (as did his wife, a member of the same class). He earned the

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-Evangelical Theological Seminary in May 1957. Bishop Job holds

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from Westmar College (1975),

Dakota Wesleyan University Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU) is a private Methodist university in Mitchell, South Dakota. It was founded in 1885 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly fewer than 800 students. The campus of the ...

(1980),

Asbury Theological Seminary Asbury Theological Seminary is a Christian Wesleyan seminary in the historical Methodist tradition located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is known for its advocacy of egalitarianism, giving ...

(1984), the

University of Dubuque The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university. History The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its foundi ...

Theological School (1989),

Rust College Rust College is a private historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Founded in 1866, it is the second-oldest private college in the state. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, it is one of ten historically black colleges ...

(1991),

Simpson College Simpson College is a private Methodist liberal arts college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has about 1,250 full-time and 300 part-time students. In addition to the Indianola residential campus, Simpso ...

(1992), and

Iowa Wesleyan College Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

(1992).

Ordained ministry

On May 24, 1952, Job received a License to Preach in the

Evangelical United Brethren Church The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant church from 1946 to 1968. It was formed by the merger of the Evangelical Church (formerly the Evangelical Association, founded by Jacob Albright) and the Church of the ...

(E.U.B.) from Bishop E. W. Pretorius. Job received a Student Appointment that summer. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

an Elder by Bishop H. R. Heininger in 1957. Job served several pastorates in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

: Tuttle (1957–1960);

Minot Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Minot Air Force Base, Air Force base approximately north of ...

(1960–1961); Calvary Church, Fargo (1962–1965). In 1961–1962 he served in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. He served on the staff of the General Board of Evangelism of the E.U.B. Church from 1965 to 1968, and on the general staff of the U.M. Board of Evangelism and Discipleship from 1968 to 1977, following the 1968 merger of the E.U.B. and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Churches that formed the

. In 1977 Job was appointed District Superintendent of the Northern District of the

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Annual Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

. He held this position until he became the World Editor of ''

The Upper Room The Cenacle (from the Latin , "dining room"), also known as the Upper Room (from the Koine Greek and , both meaning "upper room"), is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of t ...

'' devotional publication, a highly popular United Methodist ministry. For years he had also been active in the development of spiritual enrichment programs and materials, the author or co-author of numerous works.

Episcopal ministry

The 1984 North Central Jurisdictional Conference of the UMC elected Job a bishop and assigned him to the

Episcopal Area. He served on the UM General Commission on Communications as a bishop. He was also chairperson of the

Hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

Revision Committee of the church, resulting in the 1989 ''

United Methodist Hymnal ''The United Methodist Hymnal'' is the hymnal used by The United Methodist Church. It was first published in 1989 as the first hymnal for The United Methodist Church after the 1968 merger of The Methodist Church with The Evangelical United Brethre ...

''. Bishop Job retired from the episcopacy in 1992.

Selected writings

*Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living *Living Fully, Dying Well Review of Living Fully, Dying Well with author interview
/ref> *A Journey Toward Solitude and Community *A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants *A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God *A Wesleyan Spiritual Reader *Spiritual Life in the Congregation *A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People *How to Conduct a Spiritual Life Retreat

References

External links

Photo of Bishop Job
{{DEFAULTSORT:Job, Rueben Philip 1928 births 2015 deaths Ministers of the Evangelical United Brethren Church American evangelicals United Methodist bishops of the North Central Jurisdiction People from Jamestown, North Dakota People from Brentwood, Tennessee Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni Westmar University alumni United States Air Force chaplains