CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced his resignation as bishop in a July 18 letter to the synod's leaders. Rimbo's resignation is effective Aug. 31, at which time he will leave to serve as pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York.
Rimbo, 55, is serving a second six-year term as synod bishop. He was first elected bishop in 1998, succeeding the Rev. J. Philip Wahl. Rimbo served as Wahl's assistant from 1991 to 1996.
The synod council is expected to meet Aug. 20 and name an interim bishop, said the Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich, director, ELCA Department for Synodical Relations, and executive assistant to the ELCA presiding bishop. The council will also determine a date for a special synod assembly at which a new bishop will be elected, she said.
The synod will recognize Rimbo's service as bishop Aug. 28 at a service of Holy Communion at Antioch Lutheran Church, Farmington Hills, Mich. Rimbo was pastor of the congregation from 1996 to 1998.
"With this (new) call, I feel strongly that this is where God wants me to be at this time," Rimbo wrote in the August edition of the synod newsletter, "On The Way Together."
"I realize that the Southeast Michigan Synod extended a call, most recently at the May 2004 Synod Assembly with your re-election of me on the first ballot," he continued. "That weighed heavily in my discernment of this new call. I have found some degree of comfort in thinking that this is God's call to Holy Trinity and not a call away from this synod. It is with very real regret that I am leaving. But God continues to open new doors, and I look forward to serving in this new place and in this new way."
Rimbo earned a bachelor's degree in 1972 from Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind. In 1976 he earned a master of divinity from Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis.
Rimbo served two years as executive assistant to the project director of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, New York, which produced the current Lutheran Book of Worship. He was pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Valley Stream, N.Y., from 1978 to 1982, and St. James Lutheran Church, Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., from 1982 to 1991. Rimbo also served as director of music in several parishes, and was chaplain, editor, advisor and coordinator for a number of boards and projects relating to worship and parish ministry.
Rimbo is married to Lois, a reading and language arts specialist for Grosse Pointe public schools. They are the parents of two adult children, Deborah and Justin.
The ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod has 66,220 baptized members in 139 congregations. The synod office is in Detroit.
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*Lynn Norwood is communications director and admininistrative assistant to the bishop in the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod.
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
