Elizabeth Eaton Elected Bishop of ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Voting members attending a special synod
assembly Dec. 2 elected the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Messiah
Lutheran Church, Ashtabula, Ohio, to a six-year term as bishop of
the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA).
     Eaton was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop, 281-230
over the Rev. David P. Anderson, St. Matthew Lutheran Church,
Medina, Ohio.  On the fourth ballot for bishop, Eaton led with
233 votes, Anderson had 178, and the Rev. Jerome E. Burce,
Messiah Lutheran Church, Fairview Park, Ohio, was third with 124
votes.
     There were 41 names on the nominating ballot for bishop.
The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, chaired the election.
     Eaton, 51, will succeed the Rev. Marcus J. Miller, who
resigned Aug. 1 to accept a call as president of the Lutheran
Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.  The Rev. Lee M.
Miller, former bishop of the ELCA Upstate New York Synod, has
been serving as interim bishop since Marcus Miller's departure.
Lee Miller will remain in that role until January 31, 2007.
     Eaton will assume her new role as bishop on Feb. 1, 2007.
She will be installed Feb. 3, 2007, at 2 p.m. at St. Paul
Episcopal Church, Akron, Ohio.  The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA
presiding bishop, will preside over the installation.
     Eaton was elected in 2005 to the ELCA Church Council, which
serves as the board of directors and the legislative authority of
the church between churchwide assemblies.  She was a voting
member at three ELCA Churchwide Assemblies, and she has served on
the Northeastern Ohio Synod council and its executive committee.
In 1984 she was a delegate to the Lutheran World Federation
assembly in Budapest, Hungary.
     Eaton was born in Cleveland, Ohio.  In 1977 she earned a
bachelor's degree in music education from The College of Wooster,
Wooster, Ohio.  She earned a master of divinity degree in 1980
from Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.
     Following ordination in 1981 Eaton served as assistant
pastor for All Saints Lutheran Church, Worthington, Ohio, then as
an interim pastor for Good Hope Lutheran Church, Youngstown,
Ohio.  She became pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in 1991.
     Eaton is married to the Rev. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal
priest serving St. Christopher's by-the-River, Gates Mills, Ohio.
They are parents of two daughters, Rebeckah and Susannah.
     The ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod has 84,388 baptized members
in 207 congregations.  The synod office is located in Cuyahoga
Falls.
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     Information about the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod is at
http://www.neos-ELCA.org on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog