CHICAGO (ELCA) The Rev. Robert W. Mattheis, bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced in a letter to synod congregations last month that he will resign as bishop effective May 31, 2002.
Mattheis also reported his decision to the Sierra Pacific Synod Council, which met Sept. 21-22. A new synod bishop will be elected at the synod assembly in April 2002 in Fresno, Calif.
Mattheis said he expects to make a full recovery from prostate and kidney cancer. However, the treatment process has been longer than anticipated, and Mattheis felt this decision was necessary, he said. Mattheis was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the synod in 1994, and re-elected to a second six-year term in 2000. "When I was re-elected in 2000 I stated that I would serve so long as I sensed a compelling call to this office," Mattheis said in his letter. "The past year with its many surgeries and medical treatments have taken their toll. I sense that it is time for me to step aside and allow new leadership to guide us in our journey towards becoming a synod that is 'In Christ ... A Missional Church,'" a reference to the synod's vision. Mattheis said he was making his intentions known now to allow the synod to plan for the change in leadership. "This interim time will, by our prayer and invitation, be a time of the Holy Spirit," he wrote. "With such prayer and meditation, we will truly choose a pastor endowed with the gifts of the spirit for the office of bishop." Mattheis, 65, is a graduate of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, and of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. He has been a pastor of Lutheran congregations in Ferndale and Lodi, Calif., and in Hartington and Crofton, Neb. He and his wife, Janet, are parents of four grown children. The ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod is about 76,065 Lutherans in 214 congregations in northern California and northern Nevada. Synod offices are in Oakland, Calif.
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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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