The former Drew professor and renowned Methodist historian
February 2025 – Drew University is mourning the loss of the Rev. Russell E. Richey, former professor of church history and notable United Methodist historian, who died on January 19. He was 83 years old.
Richey joined the Drew faculty in 1969 as an assistant professor of church history. Over the course of his 28-year tenure at Drew, Richey taught church history within the Theological School and Caspersen School of Graduate Studies.
He was also an accomplished author and editor, publishing scores of books, articles, and chapters. “I fell in love with Methodist history because of a Russ Richey book, and I was so honored to get the privilege of working alongside him in recent years,” said General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History Ashley Boggan T’17, remembering her friend. “He will truly be missed, but he will live on through the joy of his written words.”
Together with Boggan, former Methodist Librarian at the United Methodist Archives and History Center and Professor of Modern Church History at Drew Theological School Kenneth Rowe C’59, G’69, and Jean Miller Schmidt C’59, Richey penned American Methodism: A Company History, a required reading in many Methodist studies courses.
“His amount of scholarship, depth of knowledge and love of Methodist history is almost insurmountable,” continued Boggan.
Professor Emerita of Worship, Preaching, and the Arts Heather Murray Elkins, shared fond memories of her friend and colleague. “My first impression of Russ Richey is lasting,” she said. “I’m walking across campus and see a tall man standing by the statue of Asbury and his tired horse, surrounded by men in dark suits, some church ladies, and two seminarians trying to take notes. I wander over to discover he’s telling stories, real stories about a people called Methodists; ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things on a mission for God.”
“Who could resist a bowtie-wearing story-telling kind of guy? A couple of undergrads come by, drawing the circle wider still,” added Elkins. “This is history-making in the here and now. Some of those narratives turn into texts that are required reading in seminaries here and around the world. It soon becomes clear that every story Russ tells is a love story, even the hard histories about Methodism’s original sin: slavery.”
Richey, an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, earned his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and his PhD from Princeton University.
He was dean of Emory University’s Candler School of Theology from 2000 to 2006, then returning to faculty to teach until his retirement in 2012.
