Lewis’ effective ministry at Plainfield did not go unnoticed, and in 1905 he was called to become superintendant of Western Yearly Meeting. This was the organization uniting most of the Friends meetings in the state of Indiana, and it meant a full-time “pastor to the pastors” position for Lewis.
Below are two printed accounts of his “retirement” from Plainfield.
After five years as superintendant of Western Yearly Meeting, Lewis was called to become the pastor of University Friends Church in Wichita, Kansas. Friends University was (and still is) located in Wichita, and the church associated with it was the largest Friends congregation in Kansas.
Lewis’ decision to move to Wichita was an important one, affecting the life of everyone now in our family. The Stouts moved into their new home in Wichita, and as it happened, another Quaker family lived right down the street. Their name was “Votaw.” They had several children, but one of them, Harold, was the same age (6) as Lewis’ younger daughter, Mildred. The Votaws attended University Friends, Harold and Mildred started their relationship, and the rest became our history (see video clip at right).
News article announcing the move of Lewis Stout and his family to Wichita, Kansas.
While pastoring at Wichita, Lewis wrote the above “letter to the editor” to a national Friends publication, The American Friend. The clipping above was from another publication (unknown) that had reprinted it. It’s an important word, not only for the insight it gives into Lewis’ thinking, but for the Friends movement (the Five Years Meeting referred to in the letter).
Lewis was convinced that no pastor should serve more than five years in any particular church. So when five years had passed at his church, he would typically resign and move on to a new church. Over his 45-year pastoral career, therefore, he served in many churches. He preferred the smaller churches.
We don’t have an exact timetable of his moves from church to church, but we have some of his diaries. The diaries are a real treasure; reading them, we get a good sense of Lewis’ values and his heart for ministry. The diaries include annual summaries of his ministry work. Some are shown below.
August 1896 (age 35) was elected Superintendent of Bible School Work at Sand Creek mtg. Decided to move to town; rented out farm for one year.
Sept 1896 began building house in Plainfield.
January 1897, led in series of meetings. Spent most of Feb. and March in religious work as Supt. of Bible Schools.
June-July 1897 at Earlham Bible Inst. Rented farm again.
Spring 1898 – sold off some farm equipment.
Aug. 28, 1903 – Mildred Stout born at 5 p.m. weight 9 lbs. a goodly child. We consecrate her to God. Mildred born on Friday.
1909 – move to Wichita, University Friends
Sept. 18, 1916 – began pastoral work at Union St, Kokomo
Sept. 8, 1918 – this closes our second year’s work at Union St. A net increase of 52 to the membership. A better year than the first one. Praise the Lord.
Sept. 14, 1919 – this closes our third years work at Union St. A net increase of 29 this year with a few conversions and renewals – God’s blessing has been with us.
Aug. 29, 1920 – This closes our 4th years work at Union Street. About a dozen conversions, $2000 raised for Forward Movement budget and a net addition to membership of 17.
Aug. 28, 1921 – This closes our fifth year at Union Street. About a dozen conversions and 31 net addition to membership. This is as long as we have ever served any one church, but we start for another year here.
Aug. 27, 1922 – This closes our sixth year’s work at Union Street. We have had about a dozen conversions and 23 net increase. To God be all the praise. Our church was one of five to receive “honorable mention” by the statistician at Yearly Meeting for net increase in membership.
August, 1923 – This closes our 7th year as pastor at Union St. Our last year. 28 net increase this year with 15 conversions. (Seven year totals) Increase to membership 274, Loss to membership 84, net increase 190. Average attendance at Sunday school increased from 122 to 251 – the largest in Yearly Mtg. Marriages in 7 years: 90. Funerals: 202. Membership is now 514.
Sept. 1, 1923 – Began pastoral work at Second Friends Church, Indianapolis
Aug. 31, 1924 – This ends 1 year at 2nd Friends Indianapolis. 18 net addition to membership and several conversions. Handicapped by Ma’s illness. She had surgical operation for cancer Oct. 26, 1923.
Aug. 4, 1925 – Moved from Indianapolis to Plainfield.
Aug. 30, 1925 – This closes my second year and my work at Second Friends, Indpls, the last work Mamma helped me engage to do. Several conversions and 19 net gain to the membership this year. Solemn thoughts as I quit the field – L.E.S.
Sept. 6, 1925 – Began pastoral work at Center. Jer. 12:5
“If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?”
Aug. 29, 1926 – This closes First Year’s work at Center. Several conversions and net gain of 23
(In his second year at Center Lewis began doing pastoral work at Walnut Chapel as well. Typically he would preach at Walnut Chapel one Sunday each month.)
Aug. 19, 1928 – This closes my 2nd yr at W. Chapel and 3rd at Center. A few conversions and small net addition at each place. Began work at Farmer’s Institute.
Aug. 18, 1929 – This closes my 4th year as pastor at Center and my 1st at F. Inst. Some results but too meager.
Aug. 21, 1932 – This finishes my 7 yrs. pastorate at Center and closes my work there. Good field for work.
Sept. 9, 1934 – began 7th year as pastor at Farmers Institute
Sept. 1, 1935 – began pastoral work at Fairfield (Lewis was doing pastoral work at Fairfield when he passed away suddenly.)
After five years in Wichita, Lewis moved his family and his ministry back to Indiana, and within a year or two became the pastor at Union St. Friends in Kokomo.
These two pages from Lewis’ diary record his preaching and ministry work for most of 1922. The style of his record-keeping changed significantly over the years; his handwriting became smaller and his notes became more brief.
Although Lewis believed that five years was long enough for a pastor to stay, he was so popular at Union St. Friends in Kokomo that the congregation refused to accept his resignation when he offered it after five years. The news article below tells the story.
Lewis’ diary (transcribed above) says that he remained as pastor at Union St. for another two years after the above article was published.
The story of Lewis’ commitment to pastoral ministry was written into his obituary, read at his memorial service:
Early in life [Lewis] began to manifest a keen interest in the Sabbath school and church work. After the experience of conversion, this devotion deepened and broadened with increasing years. Lewis attended school at the Friends Academy at Spiceland, Indiana, and later Earlham College at Richmond.
Realizing a definite call of the Lord for service, he consecrated his life to the Master, receiving the Holy Spirit’s baptism as a power for the work to which he was called. His great ambition was to preach the gospel and, through personal work, assist the old and young alike to receive a clearer vision of Jesus Christ and come into that abundant life in Him.
Like his father, Lewis was a farmer, but he went to ministry school and began work as a pastor at the age of 34. He continued farming on a part-time basis for many years, since a pastor’s salary was not enough to support a family.
A habit of Lewis’, learned from his father, is of great help to us: Lewis kept meticulous notes of his work. His diaries are packed with information recording his ministry activities.
In 1900 Lewis became pastor at the Plainfield Friends meeting (“meeting” is the Quaker term for “church”), and there he became well-known and respected, as the article pictured at left demonstrates.
Below are pictured three of many diary pages chronicling his work at Plainfield. Some notes were updated all year; others were made at the end of the church year, typically coinciding with the annual meeting of the denomination (known as “Yearly Meeting”).
In this video clip my grandmother (Mildred Stout Votaw) tells how she got to know my grandfather (Harold Votaw) in Wichita, Kansas.
This is the front cover of the welcome pamphlet given to visitors at the University Friends Church (Wichita, Kansas) when Lewis Stout was pastor.
This is Second Friends Church in Indianapolis, one of the churches that Lewis Stout served as pastor.
Lewis kept track of his preaching record throughout his career. He would note the date, his topic, and often the biblical text as well. These notes are from 1902, near the beginning of his ministry career.
This copy of the church budget for 1924 was found on the back of a page of Lewis’ sermon notes! From this we learn that pastors were not paid well, even when they were popular. One interesting (and impressive) revelation from this budget is the amount contributed to missions – over 20% of the church budget!
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