It wasn't hard for (Retired) Bishop Albert Frederick "Fritz" Mutti, III (GBI 1963) to decide who to make the beneficiary of his retirement fund. He wanted to honor all three of his alma maters. "I wanted to give money to those institutions that were special to me," he explained. "Every educational institution needs a growing foundation and financial support."
The portion that will go to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary will augment the Bishop Fritz Mutti Endowed Scholarship, initiated by Garrett-Evangelical in 1998 to recognize Mutti's distinguished ministry. In addition to Mutti's annual gifts to the scholarship, others who have benefitted from his ministry have also contributed to its growth.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is one of the 13 United Methodist seminaries supported by the Ministerial Education Fund apportionment of the United Methodist Church.
Mutti grew up in Hopkins, a small town of about 700 people in Northwest Missouri. He graduated from high school in 1956, right when the space race was just beginning. "I thought God might be calling me to become a space engineer," he said. He decided to attend Iowa State University for its engineering program, but once there, he discovered he did not receive the kind of education in high school that he needed to become a space engineer.
While at Iowa State, Mutti began to hear a call to the ministry. He talked to his pastor to help him think through that decision, and his pastor urged him to go to a United Methodist college. Mutti transferred to Central College in Missouri, now called Central Methodist University, and graduated in 1960 with a degree in philosophy and history.
Several of his friends in pre-theology at Central College were planning to attend Garrett Biblical Institute after graduation, so he, too, decided to go to Garrett. He enrolled in the fall of 1960 and was happy he did. "I loved Garrett," he remembered. "I loved going to school. I had such wonderful teachers; the faculty was outstanding while we were there."
He graduated with a master of divinity in 1963 and was appointed to a three-point charge in northern Missouri.
In 1974, he was invited to join the Missouri West Conference staff as director of education and camping and later conference council director.
In 1992, he was elected as a bishop of The United Methodist Church and was sent to the Kansas area, where he worked with pastors. Mutti decided he would visit all of the 650 churches under his charge. "Every weekend, I would preach somewhere in Kansas," he said. "It took me about eight years, but I visited nearly every one of those churches."
"It was a great job," Mutti said. "It is an honor to be a bishop in The United Methodist Church." Mutti served as a bishop until he retired in 2004.
In retirement, he served as a member of the coordinating Council of Churches Uniting in Christ and the Pan Methodist Council. He and his wife, Etta Mae, also served as coordinators of the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund. They currently live in a retirement village in Missouri.
Mutti and his wife had three sons, all deceased. "You build up your estate to pass it on to the next generation, but we don't have anyone to pass it on to," he said. "We decided we were going to make gifts to Central Methodist University, Garrett -Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Saint Paul School of Theology. These are all institutions we believe in."
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary website, Evanston, IL
One of seven apportioned giving opportunities of The United Methodist Church, the Ministerial Education Fund is at the heart of preparing people for making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The 13 United Methodist seminaries help students to discover their calling through the challenging curriculum. The fund enables the church to increase financial support for recruiting and educating ordained and diaconal ministers and to equip annual conferences to meet increased demands. Please encourage your leaders and congregations to support the Ministerial Education Fund apportionment at 100 percent.
