Rev. James Stevenson

Obituary   Life of James R. Stevenson

On February 9, 1926, Jim Stevenson was born in the middle of a snow storm in the farm house home of Anna Limber and J Lawrence Stevenson in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  Jim attended elementary school in a one room schoolhouse, then went to Greenville High School in Greenville, Pennsylvania.  At age 17 he felt the call of God to missionary service in the heart of Africa.  Upon graduation from high school he was drafted into the US Army and is a veteran of World War II, having served in the Pacific war theater.

After the war, in preparation for his calling, he attended Houghton College in Houghton, New York.  There he met his future wife, Martha Estelle DeRuiter.  They were married on September 11, 1948, in Fishersville, Virginia.  He went on to serve as a student pastor for the Winchester, Virginia, district of the United Methodist Church (UMC).  He attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and while a student he worked part-time at a printing press.  Upon learning that he had experience as a printer he was accepted for foreign missionary service to the Congo by the UMC.  He attended classes at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.  This was followed by a year of study in Brussels, Belgium, to learn the French language and the Belgium colonial law.

As a missionary in the Belgium Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC), he was appointed Director of the mission press at the Lodja bush station and later at the Evangelical Press in Kinshasa, both in the DRC.  When civil war broke out and all foreign missionaries were force to leave, he was sent to be the Director of the Methodist Mission Press at Old Mutare, Zimbabwe, for one year.

In 1970, his missionary service ended as civil war continued to break out in the Congo. As an ordained elder of the UMC, Jim accepted an appointment by the Bishop of the West Ohio UMC. He served as the Pastor at churches in Whitehall in Columbus, Ohio, in Van Wert, Ohio, and in Springfield, Ohio. His last official pastoral duties were as Visiting Minister for Maize Manor UMC in Columbus, Ohio.  Jim has attended Bethel Presbyterian Church since 2007, where his wife, Martha, is a member.

Jim Stevenson is survived by his wife Martha, one daughter Patricia (Jon) and two sons David (Paula) and Marshall (Denise), nine grandchildren, William, Robert, Timothy (Carolyn), Eric, John (Kimberly), James (Haley), Deborah, Alexander, Elena (Christian), and six great grandchildren, Estelle, Rees, Wolf, Mariel, Weston, and Luke.  He is survived by his sister Ellen (Jack Benninger), and many nieces and nephews.

Burial is at the Stevenson Cemetery in Greenville, Pennsylvania. In lieu of flowers, monetary gifts may be given to the James Stevenson Memorial for Pastors’ Training in the Congo and made out to the following:

Appointment Congo

PO Box 98764

Raleigh, NC 27624

Memo line: James Stevenson Memorial.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 11:00 am at the Bethel Presbyterian Church, 1735 Bethel Road, Columbus, Ohio 43220. Rev. Jerry Kasberg officiaiting.