Robbins, Frank Henry (1871–1952)

Frank H. Robbins devoted 37 years to church administration – 19 as president of the Columbia Union Conference and another 18 as president of conferences in the Columbia Union.

Frank was born October 23, 1871 on a farm near Connellsville, Pennsylvania, to Andrew Stone (1848-1922) and Susan Zimmerman Robbins (1851-1936), the eldest of seven children.¹ He learned the bricklaying trade as a young man. He committed his life to Christ and joined the United Brethren Church. Frank married Elizabeth Mary Boyd in New Haven, Pennsylvania, on November 21, 1893. They would have three daughters: Ruth Christman (1894-1987), Mable Meinhardt (1899-1982), and Ola, who died in infancy.²

In January 1900, two Adventist colporteurs rented a room from the Robbins and few weeks later sold them a copy of The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White. This book sparked an interest that led to Frank and Elizabeth joining the new Seventh-day Adventist church established in Connellsville in 1901 following an evangelistic series conducted by Charles S. Longacre.³ Frank’s brother, William M. Robbins (1877-1953), also joined the new Connellsville church. Like Frank, William would go on to serve as president of several conferences in the Columbia Union.⁴

At Longacre’s encouragement, Robbins entered South Lancaster Academy in Massachusetts in 1903 to prepare for ministerial work. He left South Lancaster in 1906 and began self-supporting ministry in Morgantown, West Virginia. He earned an income laying bricks during the day and during the evening conducted evangelistic meetings in a rented hall.⁵

Robbins was called to full-time ministry in the West Pennsylvania Conference in 1907. That summer he assisted Longacre with an evangelistic effort in Erie during which 72 persons were baptized, leading to establishment of a new church. Robbins served as pastor of the Erie church and was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1908.⁶

In 1910, Robbins was elected as president of West Virginia Conference. Conference administration would be his role throughout the remaining 37 years of his ministry. Like her husband, Elizabeth Robbins was fully dedicated to the Adventist cause and was recognized as possessing a keen mind that enhanced his ministry. When they were first learning the Adventist message in 1900, it was Elizabeth who saw with particular clarity the biblical evidence for the seventh day as the Sabbath and repeatedly exclaimed, “It is right; it is the truth. Why should we hesitate to obey?” Frank gained sharpened understanding by studying the daily Sabbath School lesson with Elizabeth and credited her for economizing in a way that enabled them to give more liberal donations to advance the church’s evangelistic mission.⁷

In 1914 Robbins accepted a call to serve as president of the West Pennsylvania Conference, serving there until 1918 when he accepted the presidency of the Ohio Conference. Just a year later, in May 1919, Robbins was elected president of the Columbia Union Conference. As union president he served as chair of the Washington Missionary College (now Washington Adventist University) board. Robbins also supported the worldwide mission of the church in travels to the West Indies in 1922 and, in 1925, to the European field and the Middle Eastern lands of Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, and Syria.⁸

After thirteen years leading the Columbia Union, Robbins returned to the Ohio Conference as president in 1934. Along with the usual administrative duties, he shared insights on health evangelism in articles published in Ministry magazine.⁹

Though he was nearing 70 and thus already past the usual retirement age, the Columbia Union in 1941 again turned to Robbins for leadership, electing him president. He labored on despite the loss of Elizabeth, who died on October 9, 1942. After five years in this second stint at the helm of the union, he stepped down in 1946, briefly continuing in ministry until retiring in March 1947.¹⁰

Frank H. Robbins spent most of his retirement in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he died on February 28, 1952. General Conference president W. H. Branson described Robbins as “a very capable and efficient administrator” and a “courageous leader” who “stood firmly for what he considered was right and just.”¹¹

Sources

Branson, W. H. “Frank H. Robbins obituary.” Columbia Union Visitor, March 20, 1952.

“Frank Henry Robbins.” FamilySearch. Accessed June 8, 2021. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/KL9W-R45.

Votaw, Heber H. “Elizabeth Boyd Robbins obituary.” Columbia Union Visitor, October 22, 1942.

Notes

1. “Frank Henry Robbins,” FamilySearch, accessed June 8, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/KL9W-R45.↩

2. W. H. Branson, “Frank H. Robbins obituary,” Columbia Union Visitor, March 20, 1952, 6.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. C. J. Coon, “William M. Robbins obituary,” Columbia Union Visitor, February 18, 1954, 7.↩

5. Branson, “Frank H. Robbins obituary.”↩

6. Ibid.↩

7. Heber H. Votaw, “Elizabeth Boyd Robbins obituary,” Columbia Union Visitor, October 22, 1942, 6.↩

8. Branson, “Frank H. Robbins obituary.”↩

9. “‘Right Arm’ in Conference Work,” Ministry, February 1938, 33-34; and “Capitalize the Health Quest,” Ministry, April 1938, 33.↩

10. Branson, “Frank H. Robbins obituary.”↩

11. Ibid.↩