“I am a proud product of the Dakotas.  You have nurtured, challenged, loved and led me in the direction of the Kingdom and towards God.  You have provided a climate of acceptance where I could grow and develop.  You have given me opportunity to serve with and among you.  Through you, God has poured into my life rich and beautiful blessings.  Thank you for all you have done for me, for our family, for the countless ways you have made Christ known to us, for the many ways you have upheld us day by day and even now offer strength and hope during this time of transition.  We love you and thank God for you.  The Philippian writer says it better, ‘Every time I pray for all of you I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped to spread the good news from the day you first heard it right up to the present’”. Philippians 1:3-5           Bishop Rueben Job, 1984

Rueben Job spent the first seventeen years of his life on a farm outside Tappen, North Dakota living in a sod house.  This way of life shaped his mind and spirit irrevocable.  It was a plain and simple life. 

Photo:  An abandoned grain elevator in rural Tappen, North Dakota.  File photo.

As a boy he liked to go to the field with his father even on cold winter days.  North Dakota winter days can carry a wind through your bones--temperatures are often well below zero.  His father would encourage him to go home and warm up.  But Rueben consistently stayed completing the many duties of the farm, suffering the cold with his father.  It was part of the love that he had for his father and the way of life. 

At the age of seventeen Rueben felt a strong, compelling call to ministry.  His discernment led him  on a journey few would consider.  He sold everything he could and ventured to Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa.  He had not completed high school. 

Boyd Blumer was at Westmar during the same time as Job.  Blumer, a retired elder of the Dakotas Conference recalled, “Rueben sold everything he could on the farm and showed up at Westmar.  He did not know if they would take him.  He had not even completed high school.  That is how strongly he felt called to ministry.”

Photo:  Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa.  File photo.

Job persevered at Westmar even when many thought he could not be successful. Reverend Blumer described a situation Job encountered at Westmar. “There was an English teacher that did not want Rueben in her class because he had not completed high school.  Rueben prayed about it and asked for her help as a tutor.  She helped him and become one of his advocates.  He made a true friend out of a potential foe.”  It was his love for God, the Father and his passion for ministry that guided him. 

Rueben met his wife Beverly at Westmar College.  Evelyn Blumer, spouse of Rev. Boyd Blumer, lived on the same floor as Beverly.  Evelyn said, “In college Boyd and I would often go to the movies or chapel with Rueben and Beverly as well as others. Westmar was a small college so we got to know each other pretty well.”

Rueben Phillip Job graduated from Westmar College and headed off to Evangelical Theology Seminary (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary).  In 1957 he returned to the Dakotas to serve as pastor in Tuttle, North Dakota. 

While at Tuttle, Rueben and Beverly would gather with other clergy and spouses about once a month.  “We were all new pastors serving churches in rural, isolated areas,” described Boyd Blumer.

Evelyn Blumer noted how the gatherings of the clergy couples provided connection and a sense of belonging for everyone. “We would gather once a month in each other's homes.  It was such a great thing for all of us.  Beverly and Rueben made sure we all felt welcome.  We all became very close." 

Evelyn described how a round robin letter involving about 8 people is still being kept up today with friends from back then.

Photo: Bishop Rueben and Beverly Job (standing) visit with Evelyn and Boyd Blumer at the Dakotas Conference Session in Bismarck, ND in 2005.

Rev. Job moved to Minot, North Dakota where he served at what is now known as Faith UMC. He was called to active duty as an Air Force chaplain for two years and then returned to the Dakotas to serve as the pastor at Calvary UMC in Fargo, North Dakota.

In 1965, Rueben Job joined the staff of the General Board of Evangelism of the Evangelical United Brethren until 1968. The EUB and the Methodist Church merged in 1968 to form The United Methodist Church. He served on the general staff of the United Methodist Board of Evangelism and Discipleship from 1968-1977.

Former Bishop James Armstrong called Job and asked him to return to the Dakotas as the District Superintendent of the South Dakota Conference in 1977.  Job moved to Huron, South Dakota where he served as the Northern District Superintendent for two years.  In 1979 the North Dakota Conference and South Dakota Conference began sharing a bishop.  Job served on the program staff for the Area Office along side Bruce Ough, who is the current resident bishop for the Dakotas-Minnesota Area.

In 1982 Bishop Job became World Editor of The Upper Room, a position he held until his election to the episcopacy.

Bishop Job was elected to the episcopacy at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference held in Duluth, Minnesota in July 1984.  “He was reluctant to run,” noted Boyd Blumer. “ He ran because others asked him.” 

Bishop Edwin C. Boulton, who served the North Dakota and South Dakota Episcopal Area at the time of Bishop Job’s election was quoted in “The Prairie Flame.”  “When Rueben addressed the body (after his election to the episcopacy) it was quiet, plain, deep, moving.  His words were rooted in scripture.  He was ready to do the thing that God, through the Church was calling him.  I heard our Dakotas native son, Rueben Job... I cried tears of joy and pain all wrapped up together.”

Bishop Job served the Iowa Area from 1884-1992.  During his tenure there, he served on the General Commission on Communications and as chairperson of the Hymnal Revision Committee. He retired in 1992.

Job leaves behind a behind a legacy of writing of more than 20 books including, “Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living”, published in 2007, that has sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide.