CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl was re-elected May 31 to a six-year term as bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). DeGroot-Nesdahl, 51, was re-elected at the synod assembly at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities.
DeGroot-Nesdahl has served as bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod since 1995.
DeGroot-Nesdahl was elected on the first ballot. She received 345 of 642 votes cast by assembly voting members. Other candidates receiving votes for bishop were the Rev. Gregory P. Johnson, Trinity Lutheran Church, Tea, S.D., 126 votes; the Rev. Robert D. Hansen, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Beresford, S.D., 91 votes; the Rev. Paul K. Erbes, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Gillette, Wyo., 46 votes; the Rev. Randall S. Eisenbeisz, Hayti Lutheran Church and New Hope Lutheran Church, both in Hayti, S.D., 34 votes.
DeGroot-Nesdahl's new term begins Sept. 1. She will not be eligible for a third term because the synod limits bishops to two terms.
"I am honored and grateful," DeGroot-Nesdahl said in response to her reelection. "I believe the Spirit is at work in our process to select a bishop. The people discerned God's call here, and it was for me to continue."
DeGroot-Nesdahl, who was born in Rugby, N.D., earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D. She earned a master of divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, one of eight ELCA seminaries.
In 1996, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Wartburg Seminary.
Before she was elected bishop, DeGroot-Nesdahl was assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Western North Dakota Synod. She served several congregations in North Dakota and Wisconsin after she was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1977.
She and her husband, Gary, are the parents of three children.
The ELCA South Dakota Synod has 120,191 baptized members in 254 congregations. Its offices are in Sioux Falls. --- [* Carol Knapp is synod supplement editor for The Lutheran and newsletter editor for the ELCA South Dakota Synod.]
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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.
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