CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Margarita Martinez was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Caribbean Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) June 7. Martinez, 53, was elected at the synod's assembly at El Centro de Convenciones de los Naborias, Dorado, Puerto Rico.
Martinez, currently serving as mission developer of Cristo, El Senor Mision, Cayey, Puerto Rico, was elected on the second ballot for bishop with 75 of 89 votes. Others who received votes on the second ballot were the Rev. Enrique Mercado-Cruz, Iglesia Luterana Sion, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, 7 votes; and the Rev. Ruben D. Colon Jr., military chaplain, School of the Americas, Fort Benning, Ga., 2 votes. There were 11 names on the nominating ballot.
Martinez will assume the bishop's role Sept. 1. She will succeed the Rev. Francisco L. Sosa, who will serve as pastor of a congregation after Aug. 31. ELCA bishops are elected to serve six-year terms. Because the Caribbean Synod holds assemblies every other year, Sosa said he decided to resign after five years as bishop to allow for election of his successor at this year's assembly.
Born in New York, Martinez earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Universidad Mundial, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, in 1979. She earned a master's degree in business administration there in 1982, and earned a master of divinity degree in 1989 from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia -- one of eight ELCA seminaries.
After her ordination in 1989, Martinez served as pastor at Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Bethel, Dorado, Puerto Rico, and Iglesia Evangelica Luterana San Marcos, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. She served as secretary of the Caribbean Synod from 1991 to 1993. Martinez was a voting member at the 1995 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, and was elected ELCA delegate to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Assembly, July 1997, in Hong Kong. From 1997 to 1999, Martinez served as associate director for global events, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
LWF, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947, the LWF now has 131 member churches in 72 countries representing 59.5 million of the world's 63 million Lutherans.
Martinez is the parent of one grown child.
The Caribbean Synod has 34 congregations and 6,783 members in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its offices are in Dorado.
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
