Rev William Alvin Ury and his wife came to Sarawak in 1971. He was appointed the senior pastor of Chin Fu Methodist Church in Kuching the following year. The ministry in Kuching had started in 1954 and in 1957, the English Sunday Evening Service at 5 pm commenced. From 1959, foreign missionaries were appointed to take charge of the English services. Rev Ury served a year there.
Rev Ury was born on April 10, 1930 in Akron, Ohio, and grew up without a father. He accepted Jesus Christ at age 12 and was serious in his faith. He graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College and Drew Theological Seminary with Bachelor and Master degrees in Arts and Theology, respectively. At Drew, he met his wife, Beth Callis, who had wanted to be a missionary as well. After their marriage, they waited to be posted to Asian countries. While waiting, he served at Willoughby Hills, a Methodist church in Ohio, for four years. The church building was still under construction then and he was photographed and reported preaching under a tree using pictures and texts.
In 1959, the couple went to India for a year, supported by his church in Ohio. On their way back to America, they stopped in Singapore and visited the then Bishop Hobart B. Amstutz. There, the couple felt a strong calling from God to serve overseas. Four months after they arrived home, the Methodist Church of America sent them to Drew Seminary to study Chinese for a year.
The beginning of Chinese mission
In 1960, Rev Ury took his wife and two children, Billy (born 1956) and Thane (born 1958), to Kaohsiung, Taiwan where he continued to learn the Chinese language. In the meantime he hosted a programme at a radio station. At that time the political situation in China had caused many to flee to Taiwan.
In 1961 he became the pastor-in-charge of the Kaohsiung Methodist Centre and the Feng Shan Preaching Centre. Many people heard his radio talks and came to Feng Shan. The Sunday worship attendance at Feng Shan once was as high as 80 to 90 people. Later, due to some mob incident, he had to leave Feng Shan and served solely at the Methodist Centre. He also helped in the purchasing of land to build a church.
That same year, his wife gave birth to twins named Faith and Hope. Life in Taiwan was not easy but they were still devoted to the Lord. Their children witnessed their parents' faith and dedicated their lives to serve the Lord.
In 1963, they had another girl, Grace. From 1965 to 1968, Rev Ury was appointed the superintendent of the northern district to assist the bishop. He also set up an executive committee to handle the work of the Annual Conference.
Besides working at Kaohsiung, he also assisted in setting up churches in Shi Lin and Mazu, and raised funds for the building of churches. From 1966 to 1967, he was appointed to serve at the International Church in Taipei. In 1969, he was again appointed to Kaohsiung for one year before returning to America. He also served as a chaplain at the US navy base in Kaohsiung.
Sarawak
By 1970, Rev Ury had served in Taiwan for 10 years. He went back to America for a year and was posted to Kuching, Sarawak in 1971. He served as the senior pastor of Chin Fu Methodist Church for a year in 1972.
In 1976, they returned to America and ministered in the Methodist church until 1982. Because of his deep concern for mission work in Asia, he went to Hong Kong to serve at the Universal Radio Station, and was later transferred to work in Singapore.
When he retired, he still participated in mission work with OMS international and travelled widely, calling for English teachers to serve in China. In his 50 years of ministry, he faithfully served the Chinese. He died on June 22, 2010 in Wilmore at Avon Park.
He had five children, two sons-in-law and 15 grandchildren, many of whom followed in his footsteps. Bill, his eldest son, served with the Billy Graham mission team and taught at the Wesleyan Bible Seminary for 21 years. Thane was a missionary to China and taught at Bethel Seminary for 15 years and also served with OMS. Hope and Grace served in Brazil while Faith served with the Methodist Church in Mississippi. Cameron Ury, Thane's son, is a pastor at Waynesburg's Little Country.
