07467
July 30, 2007
Former associate stated clerk Bob Newbold dies
Champion of African-Americans’ advances in the church was 87
LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Robert T. Newbold Jr, whose long career as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister included 16 years as associate stated clerk of the General Assembly, died July 26 in Irving, TX. He was 87.
A native of Miami, Newbold graduated from Florida A&M College, Lincoln Theological Seminary in Oxford, PA and McCormick Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1944.
When he was nominated to be associate stated clerk in 1975, Newbold said that his ministry in the PC(USA) “has been influenced by observations of the dehumanizing effect of the deprivation of opportunity to experience fulfillment and economic freedom by Black People.”
Newbold’s life and career in the church was testimony to his skill and courage in overcoming those deprivations.
For 24 years he served Black Presbyterian churches in Brunswick and Atlanta, GA, and Baltimore. During that time he also taught homiletics as a visiting lecturer at Gammon Theological Seminary, a United Methodist school that is part of Atlanta’s Interdenominational Theological Center. He also taught homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary and New York Theological Seminary.
A generally soft-spoken man with a quick sense of humor, Newbold often said that considered his pastorate at Grace Presbyterian Church in Baltimore “the end of the line for my career,” but in 1968, after 10 years there, Newbold was called to be associate executive secretary for the General Assembly’s Department of Ministerial Relations. In that position, he was driven to open up more opportunities for African-American pastors and church leaders.
From 1973 until 1975 he was associate director of the PC(USA)’s Council on Administrative Services and became associate stated clerk under then-Stated Clerk William P. Thompson in 1975. Newbold retired in 1991.
A memorial service will be held Aug. 3 at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Plainfield, NJ, where Newbold worshiped with his wife, Ann Louise, during the years he served in the denomination’s New York office. After Ann died, Newbold married Avis Newbold, who survives him.
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