- Hobart Baumann Amstutz
Hobart Baumann Amstutz (
18 September 1896 –26 February 1980 ) was abishop of the Methodist Church and theUnited Methodist Church , elected in 1956.Early years
He was born in
Henrietta, Ohio . He graduated in 1915 from OberlinHigh School ,Oberlin, Ohio , and attended Baldwin-Wallace College for two years before being drafted into the army in World War I. After the war, he earned in 1921 hisA.B. degree fromNorthwestern University and 1923 hisBachelor of Divinity degree fromGarrett Theological Seminary , and M.A., 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 childrenC. John Amstutz , Grethen (Amstutz) Timmons and Virginia (Amstutz) Wilhelm.Missionary service
Rev. Amstutz served as a
missionary inSouth East Asia beginning in 1926. For many years, he was pastor of the Wesley Methodist Church inSingapore . In 1942, he was imprisoned by the Japanese, 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 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, inClaremont, California . He was survived by his wife, Celeste; a son, Bruce, who was serving as a U.S. diplomat inAfghanistan ; 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" [http://oberlin-high.org/obits/ohs_obits_aa-am.html]
*The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church [http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=5855]
*J. Bruce Amstutz (son), memoirs.ee also
*
List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.