ELCA Press Releases

The Rev. Wade Thomas Roof III, Lexington, S.C., was elected June 13 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 11-13 at the Brookland Baptist Banquet and Conference Center in West Columbia, S.C.

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The Rev. Tessa Moon Leiseth, Moorhead, Minn., was reelected June 7 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the Eastern North Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 5-7 at the Holiday Inn in Fargo, N.D.

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The Rev. Laura Barbins, Mentor, Ohio, was reelected June 6 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 5-6 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio.

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The Rev. Jennifer Dee, Robesonia, Pa., was elected June 6 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 4-6 at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony, Pa.

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The Rev. Erik Christensen, Chicago, Ill., was elected June 6 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 5-6 at the Q Center in St. Charles, Ill.

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The Rev. Anne Edison-Albright, Appleton, Wis., was reelected June 5 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the East Central Synod of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 4-6 at the Oshkosh Marriot Waterfront Hotel & Convention Center in Oshkosh, Wis.

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The Rev. Lisa Lewton, Dickinson, N.D., was elected May 31 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Western North Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 29-31 at the Rough Rider Center in Watford City, N.D.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has received a $1.2 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its initiative Hope After the Storm: Capacity Building for Faith-Based Disaster Relief Organizations. The grant will enable Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) to strengthen its capacity to support communities through sustained, long-term recovery.

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The Rev. Justin Grimm, St. Paul, Minn., was elected May 16 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 15-16 at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minn.

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The Rev. Joy Mortensen-Wiebe, Madison, Wis., was reelected May 16 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 15-16 at Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center in Janesville, Wis.

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The Rev. Amy Current, Mount Vernon, Iowa, was reelected May 15 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, May 15-16 at First Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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The Rev. Taryn Montgomery, Duluth, Minn., was elected April 25 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Northeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, April 24-26 at Breezy Point Resort in Breezy Point, Minn.

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The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met electronically on April 16. The council, which serves as the ELCA’s board of directors, took action on a variety of matters intended to advance the ministry and witness of this church.

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The ELCA Church Council has elected Rachel Wind as the ELCA churchwide organization’s executive for administration, a position whose term coincides with that of the presiding bishop.

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This Easter Sunday, we celebrated the good news by proclaiming “Alleluia!” for the first time since Ash Wednesday. In four short syllables, that word — “Alleluia!” — encompasses all our joy in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To a world beset by fear and violence, it is a bold declaration of faith in God’s promise that sin and death will not have the final say.

Yet there are times when “alleluia” springs forth not as a shout but as an anguished whisper, an expression of our yearning for the fulfillment of that promise. Even as the church celebrates Easter, we remember many among us who still long for the church to bear witness to that promise.

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The Rev. Craig Schweitzer has been appointed to a four-year, renewable term as executive director for the Christian Community and Leadership unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

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In his Easter video message, Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry says that even though we consider ourselves to be an Easter church, we must remember that we are also a Lenten church, living in uncertainty, waiting and hoping for renewal.

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The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met March 3-7 at the Eaglewood Resort and Conference Center in Itasca, Ill. The conference is an advisory body of the ELCA that comprises 65 synod bishops, the presiding bishop and the secretary.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has launched the new ELCA.org. The new website provides a central, unified location where current and potential members, church leaders and visitors can know and understand what it means to be an ELCA Lutheran. 

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In our Lenten journey, we are reminded of our dependence on God, and we are sustained by hope in the future peace God has promised. As war involving the United States, Israel and Iran intensifies and spreads, we lament how far off that promise seems. We do not know how many people have been killed, but we know the number will continue to grow. Early reports indicate that more than 100 Iranian schoolgirls and several U.S. service members are among them.

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