Reverend Dr. Richard Eugene Stenhouse, Sr. was born January 17, 1921 in Greenville, South Carolina to Luther and Fannie E. Stenhouse, the youngest of four brothers and three sisters. Enriched by a strong church environment, it was the family's general consensus that he would become a minister. During the course of his life, his actions were as a man of faith and a seeker of justice. Specifically, he spent a lifetime reclaiming his humanity and those of his fellow U.S. residents by advocating for social, economic, and political parity. Faced with a nation that legalized racism, justified through violence, subordination, and oppression, Stenhouse demonstrated great resolve and commitment to disrupt, overturn, and resist systemic issues of injustice. This work was personal as well as professional. It was also done in collaboration with others across racial lines and was aligned with the principles of nonviolence and peace. In addition, his wife, Ella V. Griffin Stenhouse, whom he married in 1957, was a supporter, ally, and partner in all of his endeavors.
A 1937 graduate of Sterling High School in his hometown, Stenhouse earned his bachelor's degree in 1949 at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Prior to attending college, he had registered as a conscientious objector and during World War II he was conscripted to serve three years (1940-1943) in the Civilian Public Service Camps (CPS), however the period of conscription in the CPS camps was later extended until the last of the soldiers returned from overseas in 1947. Finding his conscription in the CPS camps a contradiction to his convictions, Stenhouse went AWOL (absent without leave) from the California camp where he was working and enrolled in William Penn College. After completing his studies there, he attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania in pursuit of a master's degree in philosophy, which he earned in 1950. His thesis was entitled "The Mysticism of Isaac Pennington," an important Quaker leader. During his years in the CPS he became a member of the Wider Quaker Fellowship, thus, while earning his degree, he resided at the Quaker Center for Social and Religious Studies in Pendle Hill. Although he was a Presbyterian minister, his relationship with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) would be life-long. This connection included shared protests around social issues, particularly those regarding race and racism.
Stenhouse began his formal training for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary in New York City upon completion of his studies at Haverford. During this period he served at the Presbyterian Church of the Master. A member of an interracial ministerial staff, he was director of a racially integrated summer camp program sponsored by the Church and Morningside Community Center. In 1953, after earning his master's of divinity in systematic theology and ordination in the United Presbyterian Church U.S.A., he served as first Assistant and then Associate Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of the Master until 1958. Shortly afterwards, Stenhouse accepted a teaching position at Paine College in Augusta, GA where he taught religion and philosophy for 2 years, and in 1963 he became the Dean of Students/Dean of Student Affairs until 1971. At the same time he pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy of religion from the University of Denver, Colorado. His dissertation, "Current Status of Chief Student Personnel Administrators in United Negro College Fund Member Institutions," provided a description and analysis of the status of the chief student personnel administrations in relation to current and future professional trends in the administration of these services.
A pacifist and supporter of nonviolence as a means of advancing social change, Stenhouse participated in sit-ins at a local Woolworth store and in several area churches in Augusta challenging the persistent laws of racial segregation. A student of the nonviolent philosophies of Mahatma Gandi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he gave his students at Paine College a thorough introduction to the philosophy and practice of nonviolence in the resolution of social conflict. As a result of his teachings and leadership, the students played a vital and substantial role in striving to maintain racial harmony and peace in Augusta during the racial disturbances of the 1960s. Also during this period, under Mrs. Stenhouse's leadership, a core of parents opened the community's first interracial kindergarten, Open Door, which is still in operation as of 2011.
In 1970, Dr. Chester Marcus, the Associate Regional Secretary for Africa in the United Church of Christ's United Church Board for World Ministries (UCBWM) in New York, invited Stenhouse to consider a mission to Africa. Stenhouse accepted the offer and in 1971, he and his wife, Ella, a licensed practical nurse and certified teacher, went to Ghana to serve as UCBWM missionaries for six years. They were assigned to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Seminary in Peki Blengo where Stenhouse began his work serving in the Evangelical school as a teacher. A year later he became principal of the school after the then principal, Dr. Reverend C. K. Dovlo, was promoted to Moderator of the Church and relocated to Ho, Ghana. Among other things, Stenhouse used his position to work for the inclusion of women in the Seminary and encourage self-reliance for his African pupils, which was not wholeheartedly embraced by his white U.S. colleagues and other missionaries working in Africa. Because there were very few individuals of African descent from the U.S. involved as missionaries or in leadership roles within the UCBWM, Stenhouse often found himself functioning as a buffer, mediator, and advocate in direct response to the conservative views and actions taken by missionaries and colleagues.
In 1977, Stenhouse became the Associate Regional Secretary for Africa under Dr. Marcus and moved back to New York to the UCBWM offices. He was named Acting Regional Secretary in 1979 after Marcus had a stroke, and officially assumed the position of Regional Secretary of Africa two years later. As Regional Secretary, Stenhouse was responsible for coordinating the work of over thirty missionaries in ten African nations (Ghana, Togo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Lesotho, and Namibia). In this capacity, he maintained oversight of the regional budget, programs, and relationships tied to the Africa office, one of 6 regions (Africa, East Asia, Southern Asia, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean/Oceania, and Middle East) served by the UCBWM. As part of his duties he made numerous trips to visit the missionaries and churches in the countries within his region between 1979-1984. He also attended the independence celebration of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) from British rule in 1980 and visited other countries (Kenya, Swaziland, and Zaire) in addition to those within his region.
In 1984, Stenhouse took a leave of absence from his position as African Regional Secretary for personal and family reasons. However, his commitment to increase the number of black and other minority missionaries resulted in his becoming a UCBWM consultant for the UCC Black Constituency and the Council of Racial and Ethnic Ministries (COREM), two internal organizations that were, in part, charged with building participation of underrepresented groups in the missionary corps. He was replaced by an interim Regional Secretary, and when he did not return to that position Andrea Young was hired to fill the position permanently in 1985.
Within a month of assuming the consultancy, Stenhouse proposed a new position that expanded the liaison role that he was fulfilling between the United Black Christians and UCC to incorporate other racial/ethnic groups. The proposed position would increase the interest, participation, and assignment of qualified members of racial and ethnic groups in UCBWM overseas mission and service programs. Although the goals for the position were broadly multiracial/multiethnic in intention, efforts to increase the commitment of Christians of African descent to overseas ministries were fore-grounded.
Stenhouse's decision to broaden the scope of the consultancy appears to have been the result of ongoing conversations among the UCC's racial and ethnic organizations regarding the lack of diversity among UCBWM personnel, as well as the perception that these groups were not treated as equals within the organization, and that limited communication contributed to the entrenched underrepresentation of missionaries. Stenhouse's proposal called for an executive position within the UCBWM, thus centralizing the recruitment efforts of blacks and the other constituent minority groups/organizations. Specific goals entailed increasing personal contact between UCBWM and the various underrepresented groups via outreach and recruitment, and evaluating and securing feedback from constituent groups on their awareness of overseas missions and their overall perceptions of UCBWM. As described by an internal memo, Stenhouse's new role would "develop[ing] a new program of relationships within the UCC in the USA." A news article further described the new initiative as "developing an integrated global mission." Although Stenhouse held the consultancy for a little over a year, his recruitment efforts established and confirmed the inconsistencies between UCBWM policies and practices internally and overseas through surveys and feedback that he obtained. His proposal and subsequent role ultimately served to facilitate the initial phase of an initiative to improve the role and image of the UCBWM in the view of minority constituents. In addition to carrying out the formal goals, Stenhouse advocated policy changes, among them that the consultant position be included in the UCC/UCBWM budget and that it be a permanent position.
During his time as a consultant, Stenhouse remained attentive to issues in Africa. In particular, he participated in a planned apartheid protest demonstration at the South Africa embassy in Washington, DC. in 1985, where he was arrested. The issue of apartheid was persistently discussed among his colleagues and Stenhouse was outspoken on the issue of U.S. government and corporate divestiture.
Stenhouse retired in 1985. In 1987 he suffered a stroke and died in 1993. He was survived by his wife, Ella and three children, Richard, Jr., David and Vera.