Robert Allen Iobst

Robert Allen Iobst, a bishop of the Moravian Church and a lover of Jesus, died on January 2, 2012 at the age of 96. He was born on July 23, 1915 in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, the second of two sons of Robert Stanley and Cynthia Walter Iobst. Educated at the public schools in Emmaus, he received degrees from Moravian College and Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary. Ordained to the ministry of the Moravian Church on November 12, 1939, Bishop Iobst accepted a call to serve the church as a missionary in Nicaragua. While on missionary deputation at Camp Hanes, he met Helen Stoufer, the camp nurse. They were married on October 17, 1942 and returned together to Nicaragua, where they served in pastoral ministry at Bluefields, Bonanza and Puerto Cabezas. Bishop and Mrs. Iobst returned to the United States in 1954. For the next twenty-nine years, they served pastorates at Grace Moravian Church in Mount Airy, New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem and Union Cross Moravian Church near Kernersville. Active in denominational ministries, Bishop Iobst served on the Provincial Elders Conference and on the Board of World Mission. He was a lifelong advocate for overseas mission and a great encourager of missionaries. He returned several times to Central America for ministries of short duration in Nicaragua and Honduras and was a fluent speaker of Miskitu, the native language of many Moravians there. Retiring from active pastoral ministry in 1983, Bishop Iobst served several interim pastorates and taught often on prayer. He was elected a bishop of the Unitas Fratrum in 1989. In his remaining years he devoted himself to intercessory prayer, episcopal ministry and to the congregational life of New Philadelphia Moravian Church. He and Mrs. Iobst led a Saturday morning prayer breakfast in his home that endured for more than 35 years. Bishop Iobst was predeceased by a son, Samuel, who died in infancy in Nicaragua; his brother, Ralph; a grandson, Timothy; and his wife, Helen, who died in 2002. He is survived by three daughters, Lucinda Jones and her husband Wayne of Winston-Salem, Rebecca Briley and her husband John of Dallas, Texas, and Virginia Morgan and her husband Hampton of Greentown, Pennsylvania; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. The family will receive friends from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. on January 4 at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel in Winston-Salem. A celebration of his life will be held on January 5 at two o'clock at New Philadelphia Moravian Church with interment in the church graveyard, God's Acre. A reception will follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the general fund or missions fund of New Philadelphia Moravian Church, 4440 Country Club Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104. Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com.

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