Robert Newton

The Rev. Dr. Robert Newton and his wife, Priscilla, grew up together in Napa, California, and have been married for 52 years. They have eight children (including in-laws) and 15 grandchildren

A 1977 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Newton served as an evangelistic missionary to the Kankanaey people in the Philippines from 1977 to 1983. He and his family lived in a remote mountain area of northern Luzon. The ministry involved planting new congregations and preaching stations along with training men to serve as pastors, elders, and evangelists.

The Newtons returned to the United States in July of 1983 so that Newton could pursue graduate studies at the School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. While there, he assisted the Pacific Southwest District in developing a cross-cultural leadership training program. He completed his PhD in 1993 at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Newton served as Professor of World Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary from 1985 to 1998. For the 1996-1997 academic year he was on sabbatical with his family serving the Gutnius Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea under the Board for Mission Services. He assisted as a theological educator at Timothy Lutheran Seminary, while his wife taught classes for the women and hosted retreats and seminars.

In 1998 Newton accepted a call to serve as Senior Pastor to First Immanuel Lutheran Church, an urban, multi-cultural congregation in San Jose, California. He was elected President of the California Nevada Hawaii (CNH) District in 2003 and served in that position until his retirement in 2018.