CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Margaret G. Payne, Shelburne, Mass., was elected June 2 to a six-year term as bishop of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the synod's assembly at the Sturbridge Host Hotel, Sturbridge, Mass. On the fifth and final ballot she received 369 votes to 207 for the Rev. Dennis P. Kohl, Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Warwick, R.I.
"I knew I would feel equal parts of honor and terror," Payne said, accepting the results of the election. "I didn't expect the sense of peace and brightness. The Holy Spirit has been in this place, and I feel called by the Holy Spirit," she said.
The Rev. Kathleen O. Reed, assistant to the bishop of the New England Synod, was also considered for election on the assembly's fourth ballot. She received more votes than any other nominee on the first three ballots but never the required majority of votes. There were 110 names on the first and nominating ballot.
Payne, 53, was born in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., and Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.
Ordained in 1984, Payne has been pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Princeton Junction, N.J., and assistant to the bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod. She is serving as interim pastor for Christ the King Lutheran Church, Wilbraham, Mass.
The bishop-elect and her husband John are the parents of four grown children.
Payne will succeed the Rev. Robert L. Isaksen, 63, as bishop of the New England Synod. Isaksen plans to retire at the end of August. He was elected bishop in 1987 and re-elected in 1991 and 1995. His current term was to end in 2001.
The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, will install Payne as synod bishop in a ceremony Sept. 17 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester, Mass.
The New England Synod includes more than 75,000 Lutherans in 194 congregations across the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and three counties of New York. Synod offices are in Worcester, Mass. -- -- --
There are currently two women among the ELCA's 65 synod bishops. The Rev. April Ulring Larson was elected bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod in 1992. The Rev. Andrea F. DeGroot-Nesdahl became bishop of the South Dakota Synod in 1995. Payne's election brings to 13 the number of women bishops and presidents among the 128 member churches of the Lutheran World Federation.
The first Lutheran woman elected a bishop was the Rev. Maria Jepsen, Hamburg Diocese, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Germany) on April 4, 1992. Larson was elected two months later.
Lutheran churches in the United States have ordained women since 1970.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
