Bowman Foster Stockwell

Bowman Foster Stockwell (17 September 1899 – 5 June 1961) was a Bishop of The Methodist Church, elected in 1960.

Birth and Early Life

Bowman was born in Shawnee, Ohio. As a young man, he served for a period of time as Secretary to the great missionary statesman, John R. Mott.

Missionary and Academic Ministry

In 1926 the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church sent Rev. Stockwell to teach at the Union Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina (now known as the Facultad Evangelica de Teologia). From 1927 until 1960 he was the Director of the seminary. He was responsible for bringing it to a university degree level.

An acknowledged scholar and theologian, Rev. Stockwell wrote a number of books and edited several papers. He was instrumental in acquiring a valuable library on the little-known Spanish Reformation. This collection is housed at the Facultad Evangelica de Teologia.

Episcopal Ministry

Rev. Stockwell was elected to the Episcopacy by the Latin America Central Conference of The Methodist Church. He was assigned to the Pacific Episcopal Area of this Central Conference. He chose to live in Lima, Peru.

Bishop Stockwell was strongly committed to ecumenism. He was active in ecumenical affairs, both in Latin America and on the world stage. However, his episcopal career lasted only thirteen months. He died 5 June 1961.

References

*Short, Roy Hunter, Bp., History of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church 1939-1979, Nashville, Abingdon, 1980.

ee also

* List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church