MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Three candidates have advanced following
the third ballot in the process of electing a vice president of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Mary Froehlig,
Southwest California Synod; Carlos Pena, Texas/Louisiana Gulf
Coast Synod; and Glenndy Sculley, Minneapolis Area Synod will be
placed on the fourth ballot to be voted upon Aug. 14.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of
the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines
Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including
1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is
"Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World."
From a field of seven remaining candidates, Froehlig
received 221 votes, 22.9 percent of the total; Pena received 180
votes, 18.6 percent of the total; and Sculley received 140 votes,
14.5 percent of the total. None of the three received the two-
thirds of the total votes that is required for election. Each of
the three will speak before assembly participants prior to the
fourth ballot Aug. 15.
Froehlig is presently a graduate teaching assistant at the
University of Southern California School of Religion, and has
served as an ELCA synod vice president and regional steering
committee chairperson. Pena is president of Kleen Supply Co.,
Inc.-Galveston and C.M. Distributing-Houston, and has served as a
synod vice president, served on the ELCA Church Council and
regional social ministry and public service boards. Sculley
serves the Minneapolis Area Synod as an assistant to the bishop
and worked in the churchwide Department for Synodical Relations.
The position of vice president is filled by a lay person --
a person not ordained by the ELCA. Service is voluntary and
involves chairing meetings of the Church Council, which is the
ELCA's board of directors and the interim legislative authority
between churchwide assemblies.
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Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at
http://www.elca.org/assembly/03 on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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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
