Photos courtesy of the Dakotas Conference UMC archives.

Arthur James Armstrong, 93, died at his home in Winter Park, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon, July 17, surrounded by friends, Sheri (his spouse) and hospice personnel.

Armstrong, a native of Indiana and the son and grandson of Methodist preachers, was for nearly four decades a clergyman and bishop in The United Methodist Church.

Elected to the episcopacy in 1968, he became the youngest United Methodist bishop in the United States at the age of 43. He served as Bishop of the Dakotas Area of The United Methodist Church 1968-1980.  

He had a strong influence on the Dakotas. Bishop Armstrong was instrumental in calling Bishops Reuben Job and Bruce Ough into leadership positions. He appointed Rev. Kent Millard as one of the South Dakota Conference's youngest district superintendents. 

Bishop Ough had this to say about Armstrong, "I am grateful to former Bishop Armstrong for inviting me to leadership in the church and to the Dakotas. His mentorship has guided me in many ways throughout my years."  

Armstrong was active in the life of Dakota Wesleyan University (DWU). He encouraged the university to bring in Rev. Donald Messer, at the age of 30,  as their president.

"He was always involved with DWU," said Messer. "He made me and others throughout the Dakotas feel like we were part of something. We felt like we were the center of the world."

DWU continues to honor him through the annual awarding of the Bishop Armstrong Peace and Justice Medal as well as the Armstrong Native American Scholarship.

He was a close friend and adviser to former Sen. George McGovern. As the bishop of the Dakotas Area, he also was a mediator in the Indian occupation of the Wounded Knee, S.D., settlement in 1973. When he left South Dakota in 1980, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the largest newspaper in the state, headlined, "South Dakota's social conscience prepares to move on."

In 1980, he was assigned to serve the Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church. He also was elected president of the National Council of Churches. As president of the National Council of Churches, he was called “the most influential religious leader in America” by US News and World Report in 1982.

In his retirement from ministry, Armstrong taught at the Florida Center for Theological Studies. In his 90s, he continued teaching at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. In 2010, students selected him to receive the Walter E. Barden Distinguished Teaching Award. 

The author of a dozen books and a contributor to many more, he wrote the following: Truth Telling: The Foolishness of Preaching in a Real World, The Nation Yet to Be (a bicentennial study book that went through several editions), Wilderness Voices, The United Methodist Primer, (Revised Edition) Nashville, Discipleship Resources, 1976 (originally published Nashville, Tidings, 1972), Mission: Middle America, The Urgent Now, The Journey That Men Make, The Pastor and the Public Servant, Living and Dying with Purpose and Grace, Change: Reflections on Social Change and Personal Transformation, If Only: George McGovern and the America That Might Have Been, and The Clock is Ticking: a 'How To' Approach to the Aging Process.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 am on August 18 at First Congregational Church, 225 S. Interlachen Ave., Winter Park, Florida 32789.