Rev. Dr. Arthur M. Vincent

March 20, 1918-December 7, 2020

Rev. Dr. Arthur M. Vincent died in Charlotte, NC December 7, 2020 after living 102 years. He was born in Mena, Arkansas March 20, 1918 and spent most of his boyhood in Oklahoma City. An aunt took him to Sunday school and as a teen he was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church. He was baptized in a funeral home where Grace church worshipped before their first sanctuary.  Vincent often reflected that, “A house of death became my house of life.”   Influenced by his Lutheran pastor, he pursued further education to become a minister.

Vincent was president of the student body at St. John’s College, Winfield, Kansas and graduated in 1943. He attended Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Upon graduation, he was called as pastor to Berea Lutheran Church, Alton, Illinois, the mission church plant he founded during his seminary vicarage.

Reaching the rank of Captain, Rev. Vincent also served as a chaplain in the Air Force during the Korean War. His tenure in the military was at Sheppard Air Base in Wichita Falls, TX.

In 1956 he was called to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and served there 24 years. In addition to serving on the faculty, he was the seminary’s first Development Director. Capital campaigns he led raised funds for Luther Tower and the Fuerbringer Library on that campus.

After leaving the Seminary, Dr. Vincent founded Advancing Renewal Ministries, Inc. ARM exists to train native pastors, establish Bible schools, care for orphans and widows and reach unreached people groups with the Gospel.   His ARM efforts began with Bible distribution trips to China. Since 1983 he preached, evangelized and helped support local pastors in Africa, India, Brazil, Russia and numerous other countries. ARM supports 23 missions with two to hundreds of pastors and evangelists each, over 2,000 orphans in 45 orphanages and hundreds of widows in India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Africa and Northern Iraq refugee camps. ARM has three worldwide evangelists and two professor/evangelists working in China.

Rev. Dr. Vincent is survived by his son, Michael, from his first marriage to Joanna (d.1990). Dr. Vincent married Nancy Hedlund Vincent in 1991 and is survived by Nancy and her children, Julie, Susan, Michael and Stephanie. Arthur and Nancy have, five children, 22 children and 16 great grandchildren throughout the United States, England, and New Zealand.

“You will give me added years of life, as rich and full as those of many generations, all packed into one. And I shall live before the Lord forever.”  Psalm 61:6