Staal, Harvey (1922-1999). Papers, 1938-1998.

Harvey Staal, RCA minister and missionary, was born in Grand Rapids on January 17, 1922, to John and Teressa Staal. He graduated from Hope College in 1943 with an A.B., Western Theological Seminary in 1946 with a B.D., a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1956, and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1968. He was licensed by the Classis of Grand Rapids in 1946 and ordained by the Classis of Rochester, New York, that same year.

Before entering missionary service, he served as pastor at the Reformed Church of Ontario in Webster, New York, from 1946-1949. In 1949, he and his wife, Hilda, were sent as missionaries to what is now called the Persian Gulf area. They served in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Lebanon. In 1966, they returned to the U. S. for two years while Staal worked toward his doctorate in Arabic at the University of Utah. In 1972, Staal became the first pastor of the Protestant Church in Muscat, Oman. The Staals’ work was instrumental in creating the first church built at Salalah, Oman. In 1979, Staal was a scholar-in-residence at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, but Middle East tensions compelled the Staals to prolong their forthcoming furlough. They returned to Lebanon in 1982, Staal becoming pastor to the English-speaking congregation of the Community Church of Beirut until leaving in 1987. Harvey Staal passed away in Hudsonville, Michigan, on February 21, 1999.