Ralph Edward Dodge

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = Bishop

| name = Ralph Edward Dodge

| title = Bishop of Africa Central

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| church = The Methodist Church

| archdiocese =

| diocese =

| see = Africa

| term = 1956–1968

| predecessor = none

| successor = Abel Tendekai Muzorewa

| ordination = 1935

| ordinated_by =

| consecration =

| consecrated_by =

| rank =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1907|1|25}}

| birth_place = Dickinson County, Iowa, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|8|8|1907|1|25}}

| death_place = Inverness, Florida, United States

| previous_post =

}}

Ralph Edward Dodge (January 25, 1907 – August 8, 2008){{cite news|last = Skelley|first = Steven|title = 'Revolutionary' bishop celebrates 100th birthday|work = e-Review|publisher = Florida United Methodist News Service|date = March 2, 2007|url = http://www.flumc.info/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000032/003259.htm|accessdate = 2008-05-13|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080907073219/http://www.flumc.info/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000032/003259.htm|archivedate = September 7, 2008}} was an American bishop of The Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, elected in 1956. He was the youngest of four children of Ernest and Lizzie Longshore Dodge of Dickinson County, Iowa.[https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/ralph-dodge-obituary?id=9156500 Legacy.com website, Ralph Edward Dodge 1907 - 2008, article dated August 15, 2008]

Call

After high school graduation, Dodge followed his father and older brother into farming. The family attended the Methodist Episcopal Church in Terril, Iowa. It was there that his pastor suggested God might be calling Dodge to preach. In spite of scoffing at the idea initially, Dodge earnestly wrestled with the possibility for several years. Finally, he decided to pursue this call, trusting that if God willed it, seemingly impassable doors would open.

Education

Dodge put himself through Taylor University, Upland, Indiana, by working for the university greenhouse and farm. While at Taylor, Dodge met Eunice Davis, a coed from Little Valley, New York. They married in June 1934. After graduation from Taylor, Dodge went on to Boston University School of Theology.Dodge, Ralph E. (1986), "The Revolutionary Bishop Who Saw God at Work in Africa", p. 19, William Carey Library, Pasadena

Ordained ministry

After seminary graduation, Dodge served small churches in Massachusetts and North Dakota, but he and his wife both felt called to foreign missions work.

In 1935 they were accepted as candidates for a missionary opening in Angola, then called Portuguese West Africa. The birth of their first child in January 1936 delayed their departure but, a few months later, they were in language school in Lisbon, Portugal. They arrived in Portuguese West Africa December 1936.

Episcopal ministry

Dodge was elected bishop in 1956, the first Methodist bishop elected by the Africa Central Conference. He was the only American Methodist missionary ever elected bishop by the Africa Central Conference, as well. Previously bishops to Africa had been appointed from America. During his time there, heh worked for racial equality and African leadership in the church.[https://um-insight.net/in-the-church/umc-global-nature/bishop-dodge-championed-racial-equality/ United Methodist Insight website, Bishop Dodge Championed Racial Equality, article by David W Scott dated February 11, 2021] Dodge served as bishop in Africa until 1968,[https://www.rhodesianstudycircle.org.uk/methodist-episcopal-church/ Rhodesian Study Circle website, Methodist Episcopal Church] despite being expelled from the country in 1964[https://www.bu.edu/missiology/2020/03/02/dodge-ralph-edward/ Boston University website, Dodge, Ralph Edward] leading the African church through the turbulent years from colonial control to African leadership. His episcopal area included the colonial territories of Angola, Mozambique, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Dodge's assistant Antonio Agostinho Neto went on to become the founder of the Movimento Popular de Libertacio de Angola MPLA, while Bishop Abel Muzorewa, who he helped sponsor for overseas study, became Prime Minister of Rhodesia.[https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ8BFk9K0ToC&dq=Ralph+Edward+Dodge+methodist+taylor+university&pg=PA181 Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, edited by Gerald H. Anderson, page 181]

Until his death on August 8, 2008, Dodge lived in retirement in Inverness, Florida.[http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2789393&ct=5825629 United Methodist Church website, Ralph Edward Dodge's obituary]

Publications

The Unpopular Missionary, (1964)[https://books.google.com/books?id=7iw7AAAAIAAJ Google Books website, The Unpopular Missionary]
Rise Up and Walk, 1978
The Pagan Church[https://dacb.org/stories/zimbabwe/dodge-ralph/ Dictionary of African Christian Biography, Dodge, Ralph Edward, article by Norman E. Thomas]
The Revolutionary Bishop[https://www.abebooks.com/9781604942156/Revolutionary-Bishop-Who-Saw-God-1604942150/plp ABE Books website, The Revolutionary Bishop]

His papers are held at the Syracuse University library.[https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides/d/dodge_re.htm Syracuse University Libraries website, Ralph E. Dodge Papers]