Kucharek re-elected bishop of the ELCA Slovak Zion Synod

by Luke Tatge*, ELCA News Service

The Rev. Wilma S. Kucharek was re-elected June 28 to a six-year
term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) Slovak Zion Synod during the synod assembly in Union,
N.J. Kucharek was re-elected on the second ballot for bishop
with 48 votes. The Rev. Gary D. Schreckengost, St. John Lutheran
Church, Youngstown, Ohio, received six votes, and the Rev.
Matthew C. Staniz, Temple Lutheran Church, Havertown, Pa.,
received two votes. There were seven nominees.

Kucharek, 53, was born in Johnson City, N.Y. She graduated from
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind. She earned master of
divinity and master of sacred theology degrees from the Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Gettysburg, Pa., one of eight
ELCA seminaries. Kucharek was pastor of Holy Emmanuel Lutheran
Church, Mahanoy City, Pa.; St. John Lutheran Church, St. Clair,
Pa.; St. John Lutheran Church, Nanticoke, Pa.; and Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, Torrington, Conn. She was elected to succeed
the Rev. Juan Eobrda as bishop of the ELCA Slovak Zion Synod in
2002. Kucharek is married to the Rev. Thomas J. Drobena, Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church. They have two sons.

The ELCA Slovak Zion Synod includes approximately 4,600 baptized
members in 25 congregations across seven states and one
congregation in Ontario. It is the only ELCA synod organized on
an ethnic basis, with historic roots in Slovakia and the
surrounding regions of Eastern Europe. The synod office is in
Torrington.

*Luke Tatge is a senior journalism major at Augustana College,
Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer he is an intern with the ELCA News
Service.