Hendrix Elected Bishop of ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod

HENDRIX ELECTED BISHOP OF ELCA LOWER SUSQUEHANNA SYNOD
01-153-MM*/ BM*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Carol S. Hendrix, 60, was elected June 9 to a six-year term as bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the synod's assembly at Gettysburg College, Gettysburg Pa.  Hendrix is currently serving as assistant to the bishop in the synod.
     Hendrix was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop, 370-222, over the Rev. J. Stewart Hardy, Trinity Lutheran Church, Camp Hill, Pa. Hendrix led on the fourth ballot with 294 votes, over Stewart with 222 votes, and the Rev. David L. Ritterpusch, Advent Lutheran Church, York, Pa., with 124 votes.  There were 113 names on the nominating ballot.
     Hendrix will succeed the Rev. Guy S. Edmiston, who has served as bishop since 1987, and announced earlier that he would not seek re- election.  Hendrix will assume the bishop's role Sept. 1 and will be installed Oct. 28 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Hanover, Pa.
     Hendrix, who was born in Camden, N.J., earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College, one of 28 ELCA higher education institutions. She attended the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, where she earned a master of divinity degree in 1983.  In 1991 she earned a master of of sacred theology at the seminary, which is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
     After her ordination in 1984, Hendrix served as pastor in a dual parish in Heidlersburg, Pa., and Hampton, Pa.  She was pastor at St. John Lutheran Church, Fairfield, Pa., before she became assistant to the bishop for congregational care.  She serves on the ELCA Committee on Discipline. She was the preacher at the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly service of healing, and was chaplain at the ELCA Church Council retreat in 2000.
     Hendrix and her husband Sherman have two grown children.
     The ELCA Lower Susquehanna Synod has 134, 381 baptized members in 271 congregations.  Its offices are located in Harrisburg, Pa. -- -- -- [*Michelle T. Mills is a senior at Bradley University, Peoria, Ill. This summer she is an intern with ELCA News and Information .]

[*Barbara A. Myers is synod supplement editor for The Lutheran, the
magazine of the ELCA, and newsletter editor for the ELCA Lower
Susquehanna Synod.]

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