William Henry Roberts

Background

William Henry Roberts was born at Holyhead, Wales, the son of the Rev. William Roberts and Catherine (Parry). His father came to the United States in 1855, and for thirty years was a famous preacher in the Welsh Presbyterian Church.

Education

William Henry received much of his schooling, and then entered New York Free Academy (now the College of the City of New York), graduating in 1863.

He carried on study in Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1873. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Elizabeth on December 5, 1873, and until 1877 was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Cranford, New Jersey

Career

After four years as a statistician in the Treasury Department at Washington, he was assistant librarian in the Library of Congress from 1867 to 1872. During the later part of this time he carried on study in Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1873. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Elizabeth on Dec. 5, 1873, and until 1877 was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Cranford, N. J. During the next nine years he was librarian of Princeton Seminary. He was elected permanent clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1880, and in 1884, its stated clerk. From 1886 to 1893 he was professor of practical theology in Lane Theological Seminary, also having charge for two years of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati. To devote himself to the office of stated clerk he removed in 1893 to Philadelphia, thenceforth his home. From 1894 to 1899 he preached in the Second Presbyterian Church of Trenton, N. J. Intensely occupied with administration, he kept his enthusiasm for preaching, especially for evangelism. In Philadelphia he was a leader in social reforms and charities. As stated clerk of the General Assembly for thirty-six years Roberts displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of the history, doctrine, law, and work of the Presbyterian Church, and a convinced devotion to Presbyterianism which would allow superiority to no other Christian organization. He managed the general organization of the Church with the ardor which marked his preaching. To keep pace with its rapid growth, he introduced improvements in administrative methods and records. Through the contacts with all of the church's activities--missionary, educational and philanthropic--which his office gave him, he exerted a wide and strong influence. Especially learned in church law, he edited Supplement to the Presbyterian Digest, 1898-1906 (1907) and a revision of the Manual of Law and Usage (1913), and wrote Laws Relative to Religious Corporations (1896). In sessions of the General Assembly he displayed unequaled grasp of details, accomplished parliamentary skill, and a dynamic personality. His services won him unanimous election as moderator in 1907. He was an inveterate foe of everything narrow and provincial in church life, and a tireless worker for larger fellowships. For forty-two years he was American secretary of the Alliance of Reformed Churches Holding the Presbyterian System and was president of the Council of the Alliance at Glasgow in 1896. As chairman of the commission on church cooperation and union of the General Assembly he did much to bring his church closer to others. For unity among Presbyterians he strove especially, and the unions of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Welsh Presbyterian Church with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America were largely due to him. In his personal capacity and then as a representative of his church he presided over the long negotiations which issued in the formation of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America in 1908; and he was always foremost in its leadership. He zealously promoted the work preparatory to the World Conference on Faith and Order (Lausanne) which was done before the World War and was a member of a deputation representing the American churches which in 1914 visited the non-Anglican churches of the British Isles to secure their participation in the Conference. Besides his legal works, he published A History of the Presbyterian Church (1888), The Presbyterian System (1895), A Concise History of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. (1917), and numerous articles and addresses. He also edited the Minutes of the General Assembly from 1884 to 1919.

Personality

In his personal capacity and then as a representative of his church he presided over the long negotiations which issued in the formation of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America in 1908; and he was always foremost in its leadership. He zealously promoted the work preparatory to the World Conference on Faith and Order (Lausanne) which was done before the World War and was a member of a deputation representing the American churches which in 1914 visited the non-Anglican churches of the British Isles to secure their participation in the Conference.

Connections

He was married on June 11, 1867, to Sarah Esther McLean, of Washington, and left two sons and two daughters.

Wife:

Sarah

Esther McLean, of Washington