CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Edward R. Benoway, 53, was elected bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) May 5. Benoway currently serves as assistant to the bishop in the synod, and is based in Lutz, Fla.
Benoway, who was elected at the synod assembly at the Hyatt Orlando Hotel, Kissimmee, Fla., will assume the bishop's role July 1. He will succeed the Rev. James A. Rave, who was appointed interim bishop last year by the synod's council. Rave succeeded the Rev. William B. Trexler, who resigned as bishop to accept a call to serve a congregation in Virginia. Benoway will be installed Nov. 18 at a site to be announced.
Benoway was elected 345-252 over the Rev. Jack R. Palzer, Calvary Lutheran Church, Apollo Beach, Fla., on the sixth ballot. He led on the fifth ballot with 260 votes over Palzer with 167, and the Rev. Thomas J. Slater, Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Naples, Fla., who received 150 votes. There were 100 nominees who received votes on the first ballot.
Benoway currently serves the synod's Southwest Mission District, a position he has held since January 2000. He previously served as pastor at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Pompano Beach, Fla.; Grace Lutheran Church, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, Tampa, Fla. He also served as associate pastor at St. John Lutheran Church, Winter Park, Fla.
Benoway was a voting member at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver. He served four years as dean of the Broward-Bahamas Conference of the synod, was a member of the synod council of the ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, and was a member of the board of trustees of Newberry College, an ELCA higher education institution in Newberry, S.C.
Benoway holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Newberry College and a master's degree in counseling from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. He completed his seminary education at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, in 1973, and was ordained in Florida the same year.
Benoway and his wife, Linda, have four grown children.
The Florida-Bahamas Synod has 91,656 baptized members in 216 congregations. Its offices are in Tampa.
* Karen J. Rieley is director of communication for the Florida-Bahamas
Synod.
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
