George Richmond Grose

George Richmond Grose (1869-1953) was an American academic administrator and a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1924, serving as a Missionary Bishop in China.

Family

George was born 14 July 1869 in Nicholas County, West Virginia, the eldest son of Andrew Dixon and Mary Estaline (née Harrah) Grose. George's grandfather, William Grose, was a Licensed Exhorter in the M.E. Church, and an earnest, forceful speaker. He was encouraged to obtain a License to Preach. But he preferred to remain an Exhorter and a local worker in the church.

George married Lucy Dickerson of Cadiz, Ohio 28 June 1894. They had children Wilbur Dickerson, Francis, Helen, and Virginia.

Education

George taught school for a few years in Fayette County, West Virginia, then graduated in 1894 from the Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, with the degree of A.B.. He went on to the Boston University School of Theology, where he earned the degrees of S.T.B. (1896) and M.A.. Ohio Wesleyan awarded him the honorary doctorates D.D. in 1908 and LL.D. in 1916.

Ordained Ministry

The Rev. George Richmond Grose served as a Pastor of the Cherry Valley Church, Leicester, Massachusetts (1896-97). He then went to Boston where he served for three years as the Pastor in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Then he was appointed to the First Methodist Church of Newtown, Massachusetts (1900-05), then the First Methodist Church of Lynn, Massachusetts (1905-08). Rev. Grose then accepted the pastorate of Grace Methodist Church in Baltimore (1908-12).

From Baltimore he was called to the Presidency of DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana in 1912. He served in this position for eleven years. During a period of expansive growth at the University, his term as President brought stability and financial strength. He also transferred his conference membership to the North Indiana Annual Conference. He stepped down as President upon his election to the episcopacy.

References

* "GROSE, Rev. Geo. Richmond, D.D." in Who's Who in American Methodism, Carl F. Price, Compiler and Editor, New York: E.B. Treat & Co., 1916, p. 85.

External links

* [http://www.depauw.edu/univ/president/history.asp Presidents of DePauw University]
* [http://www.depauw.edu/library/archives/dpuinventories/grose_george.htm DePauw University: Grose's papers, including a photo of the Bishop]
* [http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_032/TECH_V032_S0176_P002.pdf Newspaper notice of his appointment as DePauw President]

ee also

*List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
*List of Protestant missionaries in China
*Christianity in China
*19th Century Protestant Missions in China