Lutheran Synods Conduct Elections for 27 Bishops in 2001

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Twenty-seven of the 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are set to elect bishops in 2001. At least 12 synods will be electing new bishops; 15 bishops may be re-elected to subsequent six-year terms.
When the ELCA was formed in 1987, each synod elected a bishop to a four-year term. Many synods held their second elections for bishop in 1991.
In 1993 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly changed the terms of bishop to six years. When many synods held their third elections for bishop in 1995, they were for six-year terms, ending in 2001. Many synods that had voted to limit bishops to three four-year terms changed their constitutions to allow only two six-year terms.
The 38 synods not electing bishops this year encountered circumstances, such as the retirement or resignation of the bishop, which prompted an election for bishop after an incomplete term.
Bishops serve as synods' chief pastors, exercising administrative oversight of the synods' work. They are also members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops.
Term limits will make the re-elections of four bishops impossible this year (Miller, Nycklemoe, Olson and Wennes). Three bishops plan to retire at the end of their current term (Edmiston, Nycklemoe and Wold). Nine will continue their ministries in other settings (Egertson, Hermodson, Maahs, Miller, Olson, Ramseth, Spring, Trexler and Wennes).

LOWER SUSQUEHANNA SYNOD
The Rev. Guy S. Edmiston Jr., 63, plans to retire as bishop of the ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod effective Aug. 31. He was first elected bishop in 1987, when three Lutheran church bodies formed the ELCA, and was re-elected in 1991 and 1995.
In a letter to the synod, Edmiston said his retirement "will mark the end of my 14th year as bishop and my 24th year as a synodical officer. I look forward with excitement to the surprises God has in store for our synod and for me personally in the coming years."
Born in Elizabethtown, Pa., Edmiston is a graduate of Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa., and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He holds advanced degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.
Ordained in 1962, Edmiston was pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Indianapolis; St. John Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa.; and Lakeside Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa. He served ten years as secretary for the Central Pennsylvania Synod of the former Lutheran Church in America.
Edmiston was the Lutheran co-chair of the Lutheran-Reformed Coordinating Committee and has represented the ELCA in several ecumenical discussions of full communion.
He and his wife Barbara are the parents of a son and a daughter.
The synod will elect a new bishop when it meets in assembly June 8-9 at Gettysburg College -- a college of the ELCA. The new bishop will take office Sept. 1 and be installed at a later date.
The Lower Susquehanna Synod includes 136,000 baptized members -- 470 of whom are pastors, associates in ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers of the ELCA -- in 271 congregations in nine counties in central southern Pennsylvania. The synod office is in Harrisburg.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (WEST) SYNOD
The Rev. Paul W. Egertson, 65, will not seek re-election as bishop of the ELCA Southern California (West) Synod. He plans to return to the religion department of California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Calif., and teach this fall.
Born in Litchville, N.D., Egertson is a graduate of Pepperdine College, Los Angeles (now Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.), and Luther Theological Seminary (now Luther Seminary), St. Paul, Minn. He has studied at the University of Minnesota Graduate School, Minneapolis, and the Pepperdine University School of Law. He earned a doctorate at the School of Theology at Claremont, Calif.
Ordained in 1960, Egertson served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, South Gate, Calif.; Calvary Lutheran Church, Las Vegas; and St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Lakewood, Calif. At California Lutheran University he was director of the Center for Theological Study, an adjunct professor of religion, an assistant professor of religion and pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, North Hollywood, Calif. Egertson was elected to a six-year term as bishop in 1995.
He and his wife Shirley are the parents of six sons.
The synod will elect a new bishop when it meets in assembly May 31-June 2 at the Marriott Hotel, Woodland Hills, Calif.
The Southern California (West) Synod includes 45,955 Lutherans in 140 congregations across five California counties. The synod office is in Glendale. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly, meeting Aug. 8-14 in Indianapolis, will consider changing the synod's name to "Southwest California Synod."

NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA SYNOD
The Rev. Arlen D. Hermodson, 64, announced he will not seek re-election as bishop of the ELCA Northwestern Minnesota Synod. He is considering several opportunities for the future of his ministry.
Born in Crookston, Minn., Hermodson is a graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
Ordained in 1962, Hermodson was pastor of Gethsemane and Peace Lutheran Churches, Baldwin, Wis.; Milltown and North Valley Lutheran Churches, Milltown, Wis.; Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Superior, Wis.; Hope and Zion Lutheran Churches, Fosston, Minn.; and Grace Lutheran Church, Ada, Minn. He was elected to a six-year term as bishop in 1995.
Hermodson and his wife Marilyn are the parents of three daughters and one son.
The synod will elect a new bishop when it meets in assembly June 8-10 at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Concordia is a college of the ELCA.
The Northwestern Minnesota Synod includes 112,767 Lutherans in 285 congregations in 21 northwest Minnesota counties. The synod office is in Moorhead.

CENTRAL STATES SYNOD
The Rev. Charles H. Maahs, 65, announced he will not seek re-election as bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod. He is considering several opportunities for the future of his ministry and has accepted an invitation from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., to teach a class in Spring 2002.
Born in Homestead, Pa., Maahs' parents were missionaries for the former American Lutheran Church, and he was raised in New Guinea, Australia and India.
Maahs is a graduate of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, and Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. He received a doctorate in New Testament theology from the University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
Ordained in 1965, Maahs was pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kan., and Atonement Lutheran Church, Overland Park, Kan. He was elected bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod in 1987.
Maahs serves as Lutheran co-chair of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the United States, now in its 10th round of talks.
Maahs and his wife Pauline are the parents of a son and a daughter.
The synod will elect a new bishop when it meets in assembly June 7-10 at the Marriott Downtown Hotel, Kansas City, Mo.
The Central States Synod includes 71,670 Lutherans in 219 congregations across Kansas and Missouri. The synod office is in Shawnee Mission, Kan.

WESTERN IOWA SYNOD
The Rev. Curtis H. Miller, 53, is not eligible for re-election to another term as bishop of the ELCA Western Iowa Synod. The synod constitution allows for a bishop to serve two six-year terms, and he has served two four-year terms and one six-year term. Miller is considering several opportunities for the future of his ministry.
Born in LeMars, Iowa, Miller is a graduate of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, and Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa.
Ordained in 1973, Miller was pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Dubuque, and<