Hobart Baumann Amstutz

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Hobart Baumann Amstutz (18 September 1896 – 26 February 1980) was a Bishop of The Methodist Church and The United Methodist Church, elected in 1956.

1 Early years
2 Missionary Service
3 Death
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Early years

He was born in Henrietta, Ohio. He graduated in 1915 from Oberlin High School, Oberlin, Ohio, and attended Baldwin-Wallace College for two years before being drafted into the army in WWI. After the war, he earned in 1921 his A.B. degree from Northwestern Universityand 1923 his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Garrett Theological Seminary, and M.A., Northwestern University. In 1938, Baldwin-Wallace College awarded him an honorary D.D.

[edit] Missionary Service

Rev. Amstutz served as a missionary in South East Asia, beginning in 1926. For many years he was Pastor of the Wesley Methodist Church in Singapore. In 1942 he was imprisoned by the Japanese, spending 3 1/2 years in a prison camp. From 1956-1964, he served as elected Methodist Bishop for Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, & Burma, and also served as founding President of Trinity College in Singapore. Shortly after retirment, he was called to be Methodist Bishop of Pakistan, 1964-68, where he succeeded in creating the Church of Pakistan, an amalgamation of four Protestant churches.

[edit] Death

Bishop Amstutz died 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; a daughter Beverly, and a brother, Clarence (a 1926 graduate of Oberlin College).