Loomis became an advocate for the Chinese with his language skill providing the means to alleviate prejudice. His primary ministry was as the pastor of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, which had been organized during the ministry of William Speer. The church had been without a minister for about two years when Loomis began shepherding the Chinese flock and some rebuilding of the congregation was required. Loomis’s life in California had been a busy ministry with only two or three visits back East and one extended trip in Europe for rest and renewal. He was honored by his alma mater, Hamilton College, in 1873, with the Doctor of Divinity.

Augustus W. Loomis included in his minstry writing books about and for the Chinese immigrants and American Indians. He also emphasized catechesis in his ministry as exemplified by The Profits of Godliness, 1859, which is a brief popular study of questions 36-38 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Loomis explains each of the three answers through exposition of their component concepts. Concerning the doctrine of justification by faith he said,

Joy flows from justification; for he that is pardoned will rejoice. There is ground for his rejoicing. He looks to Jesus as his Saviour, his Surety, who, by his blood, his obedience, his intercession, reconciled him to God. He believes on him, trusts in him, and believing, he rejoices with joy unspeakable, and full of glory (p. 35).

Loomis opens the concepts of increase of grace; perseverance to the end; immediately passing into glory; perfection in holiness; awaiting the resurrection; resurrection in glory; open acknowledgement on the day of judgment; enjoying perfect blessedness; and then concludes the little book with the observation “Surely godliness is profitable; it is a pearl of great price” (p. 120). When the book was published Loomis had just returned home from China for health reasons after a six-year ministry. He would spend the rest of his life working with Chinese immigrants living in California.

Augustus Ward Loomis was born September 4, 1816, in Andover, Connecticut, to Seba Loomis and his wife Jerusha (Brewster) Loomis. His mother was a descendant of Mayflower passengers William and Mary Brewster of Plymouth Colony. Seba had been commissioned an ensign in the Connecticut militia in 1808. When the boy was about eighteen months old the family moved to Cazenovia, New York where his father purchased a farm about a half mile south of the village. At the age of eleven Augustus began preparation for college in the Oneida Conference Seminary in Cazenovia which was associated with the Wesleyan Methodists. As a young man he was not interested in becoming a minister, so he begged his parents to leave school and go into business more than a hundred miles to the east in Albany. Despite Augustus’s interest in the business world, his parents prayed for his spiritual well being. The prayers were answered when he professed faith in Christ at the age of sixteen and united with the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany. The pastor at the time was William B. Sprague. Thus, having his plans changed, Augustus returned to Cazenovia to complete preparatory studies for entry into the sophomore class of Hamilton College graduating in 1841, and he moved to New Jersey to begin theological studies in Princeton Seminary that fall.

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