File photo from UMNS.

Three longtime United Methodist leaders are among those remembering a former bishop whose faith in their abilities, as well as in other young church members, helped create a lasting legacy for the denomination.

That mentor, A. James Armstrong, died July 17 in Winter Park, Florida, at the age of 93. A memorial service is planned at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, at the First Congregational Church there.

The Rev. Donald Messer, the retired head of Iliff School of Theology in Denver; Dakotas Area Bishop Bruce Ough, immediate past president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, and the Rev. Kent Millard, president of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, all credit Armstrong with teaching them important leadership principles.

“He helped shape my career in ways I had never anticipated,” said Messer, who — with Armstrong’s encouragement — became the president of Dakota Wesleyan University at the age of 30.

“He was committed to developing leaders,” Ough told United Methodist News Service. “He always was watching and looking for places where he could not only identify but then empower pastors and lay leadership to take on significant tasks.”

As a preacher, he was simply the best, Millard said. “Annual conference was always alive because Armstrong was going to be preaching.  
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