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

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 World War I. 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. Hobart had 2 brothers Clarence John "Stutz" Amstutz and Melvin Amstutz. Clarence had 3 children C. John Amstutz, Grethen (Amstutz) Timmons and Virginia (Amstutz) Wilhelm.

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 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, 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.

References

• Oberlin Alumni Magazine, The, Oberlin, Ohio, March/April 1980, pp. 43-44.
• Oberlin High School Alumni "In Memoriam"
• The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
• J. Bruce Amstutz (son), memoirs.

See also

• List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church