Asbury Seminary Board Member, Reverend Edmund Robb III, receives award

An Asbury Theological Seminary Board Member has received an award, but he says it was a family tie that made it especially memorable. Reverend Edmund Robb III was granted the 2011 Distinguished Evangelist of the United Methodist Church award. Robb says, "This is not something I expected or thought about, but I was very pleased to find out about the award. This is especially meaningful for me because it's the same distinction earned by my father, Dr. Edmund Robb, Jr., 22 years ago.”

Robb is the founding pastor of the The Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas. Since its beginning in 1978, the congregation has been one of the fastest-growing churches in America and is now the fourth-largest church in Methodism. Robb has seen his church grow from 30 people to more than 4,200 people who regularly attend worship. The congregation funds more than $1.5 million in missions annually. However, Robb says when it comes to building a thriving ministry, it can’t be counted in numbers. “While I am proud of these accomplishments, success for me is more about spiritual growth and transformation in the lives of people than it is about numbers.”

Before his work at The Woodlands, he served as the associate editor of Good News magazine. He is currently a board chairman of A Foundation for Theological Education, which has provided more than $2.5 million in fellowship grants to United Methodist doctoral students since 1977. He is also an election official with The Woodlands Township Board, and was named a “Hometown Hero” in 2007 for his many contributions in The Woodlands.

Robb received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Asbury University. He was elected to Asbury Seminary’s Board of Trustees in 1997.