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Arthur L. Bietz

Credit: Loma Linda University Photo Archive; Dept. of Archives and Special Collections, Loma Linda University.

Bietz, Arthur L. (1915–2001)

By Alyssa Lopes

First Published: August 3, 2026

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Arthur Leo Bietz was a long-term Adventist church planter, pastor, educator, and psychologist. He explored the connections between principles of clinical psychology and pastoral ministry.

Early Life

On July 21, 1913, Arthur Leo Bietz was born to Daniel Samuel and Christina Unterseher Bietz on their farm near Bowdon, North Dakota. Both of his parents, originally of German ancestry, had been born in Russia. His mother had immigrated to the United States as a small child and his father as a teenager. 1 The families had settled in the same area and had converted to Adventism from the Baptist and Lutheran churches respectively. He attended the Adventist elementary school in his town, of whom his parents were patrons. He was baptized at 13 years old.2

In 1926, Bietz attended Cheyenne River Academy, an Adventist boarding school in Harvey, North Dakota.3 In 1929, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska and finished his senior year at College View Public High School.4 Bietz attended Union College the following year.5 He saw his future wife, Violet Klein, over spring break of his freshman year in Washburn, North Dakota. Bietz was anxious to meet Violet, and his sister Ottilia helped facilitate their courtship via mail. After years of dating long distance, they got married on September 18, 1934, in Lincoln, Nebraska.6 Bietz planned to graduate in 1935 but never officially graduated from Union as his missed final examinations due to his father’s death.7

Career

Arthur Bietz began his pastoral career in 1935 in Rochester, Minnesota where he successfully established a new church. He spent the following four years raising churches and building Adventist communities in Minnesota.8 In 1939, Bietz was ordained by the Adventist church and moved to Berkely, California where he pastored from 1939 to 1943.9

In 1943, Bietz became the chair of the new Applied Christianity Department at the Los Angeles campus of the College of Medical Evangelists (now Loma Linda University).10 At the same time, he became the pastor of the White Memorial Church in LA and enrolled in the University of Southern California to continue his education. In 1944, he completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology; in 1945, he received a master’s degree; and a PhD in religion from the same university in 1946. His dissertation considered the roles of clergy in assisting young people struggling with emotional problems and considered the importance of psychology in a pastoral role.11

His only child, Constance “Connie” Kay Bietz (now Granucci), was born January 5, 1949.12

In 1961, Bietz transferred to Glendale Seventh-day Adventist Church where he was involved in radio ministry for several years and directed the Glendale Psychological Center.13 Throughout this time, he remained in close association with Loma Linda University, holding the first meeting of the Institute of Scientific Studies for the Prevention of Alcoholism in July of 1967, of which he was the director.14 Bietz was also a prolific author. In total, he published 25 books and pamphlets, including When God Met Men and In Quest for Life. Many of these publications were derived from his sermons at Glendale Seventh-day Adventist Church. He also wrote articles for denominational publications like Signs of the Times.15

Later Life and Legacy

Bietz retired in 1972 but remained a pastor emeritus at Glendale Church until his death.16 He also founded and directed the Central Bank of Glendale during this time.17

Arthur L. Bietz died on October 7, 2001, at 88 years old.18 His connection of psychology and religion was revolutionary for the time. The churches and Adventist communities he helped build persist to this day.

Sources

“At Rest.” ARH, February 28, 2002.

Bietz, Arthur L. “Doubting Your Doubts.” Sermon at White Memorial Church, Glendale, September 22, 1956.

Bietz, Arthur L. In Quest of Life. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1947.

Bietz, Arthur L. “Is God Sadistic?” Sermon at White Memorial Church, Glendale, April 7, 1957. Loma Linda University Archives.

Bietz, Arthur L. When God Met Men. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1966.

Bietz, Arthur L. “When Profession Is Pretense: Serving the Devil in the Livery of Heaven.” Signs of the Times, April 20, 1948.

Bietz, Jay. “Bietz Genealogy.” January 22, 2003. Loma Linda University Archives.

“‘Church of the Air’ Program to Feature Dr. Arthur L. Beitz.” Southwestern Union Record, June 19, 1957.

“Earlier Weekend Events.” Loma Linda University Scope, June 3, 1966. https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=scope.

Elliot, Walter P. “C. M. E. Alumni Postgraduate Convention.” Colombia Union Visitor, February 5, 1953.

“Glendale Celebrates 90 Years of Ministry.” Pacific Union Recorder, April 1, 1996.

Granucci, Connie. “Arthur Leo Bietz.” Glendale News-Press, October 14, 2001. Loma Linda University Archives.

Hand, Barbra. “A. L. Bietz Writes Book That Studies 15 New Testament People.” Northern Union Outlook, January 20, 1967.

Hannah, Myron Dale. “A Study of the Lines of Thought in the Speaking of Arthur L. Bietz, Minister-Psychologist.” Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, 1970. MSU Libraries Digital Repository. https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/gdt1-ey59.

Hollywood, A. Arthur L. Bietz [photograph], 1956. Loma Linda University Digital Archives. https://cdm.llu.edu/digital/collection/photodb/id/4215.

Lewis, Richard, ed. The Living Witness: Significant Articles from the Signs of the Times 1874- 1959. Pacific Press, 1959.

“Long Time Minister Arthur Bietz Dies.” ARH, November 15, 2001, 21.

“Straight to Your Heart from the Pen of Arthur L. Bietz: An Understanding Counselor of Young People!” Signs of the Times, April 20, 1948.

The Story: Glendale City Church, 1906-2006, “100 Years of Grace.” Glendale, CA, 2006. Loma Linda University Archives.

Roth, D. A. “Dr. Arthur L. Bietz Is Lectureship Speaker.” Colombia Union Visitor, April 3, 1958.

Walden, Richard T. Letter to Dr. O. S. Parrett. Loma Linda University Archives, October 18, 1953.

“Wedding Announcements.” Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1967.

“Wright-Sadler Nuptial Vows Said in Seventh-Day Adventist Ceremony.” Ventura County Star, July 31, 1968.

Notes

  1. Myron Dale Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought in the Speaking of Arthur L. Bietz, Minister-Psychologist” (Ph.D. diss., Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1970), 2, MSU Libraries Digital Repository. See documents including Bietz’ draft card in Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/offers/join?dbid=1030&tid=210848212&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.com%2Ftree%2F210848212%2Ffamily%3Fcfpid%3D%2520102768688185%26invitetoken%3D9e46w6EGr5RzMrBJb0TXFo5th9puJjgXn99VNkLRVyw%253D.↩

  2. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 5, 13; “The Bowden School,” The Northern Union Reaper, July 26, 1927, 6.↩

  3. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 3-4.↩

  4. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 15.↩

  5. Richard Lewis, ed., The Living Witness: Significant Articles from the Signs of the Times 1874-1959, (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1959), 18.↩

  6. “Klein-Bietz,” The Bismark Tribune, October 13, 1934, 5.↩

  7. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 17-18; Daniel Bietz Obituary, ARH, August 29, 1935, 22.↩

  8. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 19-20. See also, for example, “Minnesota News Notes,” Central Union Reaper, May 11, 1937, 5; V. E. Peugh, “Evangelism in Minnesota,” Central Union Reaper, May 25, 1937, 11-12.↩

  9. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 21.↩

  10. Lewis, The Living Witness, 18.↩

  11. Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 22-23; Arthur L. Bietz, “Biblical Parallels to Modern Mental Hygiene Principles” (M.A. Thesis, University of Southern California, February 1945); Arthur L. Bietz, “The Relative Roles Played by Clergymen and Physicians as Counselors Regarding Selected Types of the Emotional Problems of Young People: A Study of the Attitudes of 819 University Students” Principles” (Ph.D. diss., University of Southern California, June 1946).↩

  12. Connie Granucci, “Arthur Leo Bietz,” Glendale News-Press, October 14, 2001; Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 28.↩

  13. The Story: Glendale City Church, 1906-2006, “100 Years of Grace,” (Glendale, CA, 2006), 6, 10; Hannah, “A Study in the Lines of Thought,” 27; “Long Time Minister Arthur Bietz Dies,” Adventist Review, November 15, 2001, 21.↩

  14. “This Month in Loma Linda History,” Loma Linda University Scope, June 12, 1967.↩

  15. Arthur L. Bietz, When God Met Men, (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1966); Arthur L. Bietz, In Quest of Life (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1947); Arthur L. Bietz, “When Profession Is Pretense: Serving the Devil in the Livery of Heaven,” Signs of the Times, April 20, 1948, 10-11, 18.↩

  16. The Story, 6.↩

  17. Gordon Bietz, email message to author, May 6, 2024; “At Rest,” ARH, February 28, 2002, 30.↩

  18. “Long Time Minister Arthur Bietz Dies,” 21; Granucci, “Arthur Leo Bietz.”↩

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Lopes, Alyssa. "Bietz, Arthur L. (1915–2001)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. August 03, 2026. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CILB.

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Lopes, Alyssa. "Bietz, Arthur L. (1915–2001)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. August 03, 2026. Date of access October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CILB.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Lopes, Alyssa (2026, August 03). Bietz, Arthur L. (1915–2001). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=CILB.

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