Louise Avett (1903-1994), an American missionary, was born May 7, 1903, in Norwood, North Carolina. She received an A. B. from Duke University and an M. A. from Scarritt College. Avett taught fifth grade in the United States prior to her missionary service in China, which lasted from 1932 to 1945. Part of her service included evangelistic and social work in the Soochow, Changhsu Ku, Haito, Huchow provinces of East China and the Houchuan Province of West China. Teaching duties included working at the Hwa Mei, Hochuan, Dahoba, Tongnan, and Gwei Chin Tze primary and middle schools. When itinerating, Avett would stay with numerous families and minister to them for several days at a time. She also taught in Hong Kong during the 1960s. Louise Avett died in 1994.
K. James Stein (1929-?), a theologian and professor. Stein was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the son of Gustav and Anna (Sommer) Stein. He was educated in the rural areas of the Red River Valley. Stein acquired a temporary teaching certification following high school and taught in rural schools of Pembina County, ND from 1947-1950. Stein received his bachelor's degree at Westmar College in Iowa (1953). He attended seminary at Evangelical Theological Seminary of the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Naperville, Illinois. Subsequently he received a masters of sacred theology and his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. His dissertation title was "Church Unity Movements in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ until 1946" Stein married Loretta Bahr of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Ordained as an elder in 1956, Stein served appointments in the Dakota Conference in Kidder (1952), Casselton- Chaffee (1953), and at Patterson Christ in New Jersey (1956). Prior to finishing his PhD at Union (1965), Stein became a Professor of Church History at Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETS) in Ilinois in 1960 and became a dean at the seminary in 1972. In 1973, while serving as president of ETS, Stein oversaw its merger with Garrett Seminary and served as the first dean of the new Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Stein retired in 1995, continuing to function as a "senior scholar" at Garrett-Evangelical.
Stein numerous multiple articles, and two books, "Phillip Jakob Spener: Pietist Patriarch" (1986) and "Spiritual Guides for the 21st Century: Faith Stories of the Protestant Reformers" (2000).