Robert Schaefer elected bishop of ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert G. Schaefer, Venice, Fla., was
elected May 4 to a six-year term as bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Schaefer was
elected on the sixth ballot during the synod assembly May 2-4 in Orlando,
Fla.
“I am deeply grateful for the confidence that our assembly has
placed in me in this call to serve as their bishop,” said Schaefer, who
serves as lead pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran in Venice.
“I pray for a fresh outpouring of God’s spirit on the entire Florida-
Bahamas Synod as we walk together into this next chapter of sharing
Christ, making disciples, and doing justice in a mission territory that
continues to become more diverse in every aspect,” he said.
Schaefer will be installed Aug. 31 at St. Timothy Catholic Church in
Lutz, Fla.
Schaefer was elected on the sixth ballot with 319 votes to 170 votes
for the Rev. Jack Palzer, senior pastor of Calvary Lutheran in Apollo
Beach, Fla. The Rev. Dr. Rita Gardner Tweed, director for evangelical
mission and assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod,
was also a nominee on the fifth ballot with108 votes to 170 votes for
Palzer and 243 votes for Schaefer.
Schaefer was an executive for worship with the ELCA churchwide
organization here from 2009 to 2011. He served as assistant to the bishop
of the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod from 2004 to 2009 and co-pastor of Good
Shepherd Lutheran in Tampa, Fla., from 1998 to 2004.
He earned a degree in psychology and sociology from Iona College in
New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1979, and earned a master of divinity degree from
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1984. The seminary is
one of eight ELCA seminaries.
Schaefer is married to the Rev. Jennifer Schaefer, who is a pastor
at Emmanuel Lutheran in Venice. Together they have three adult children
and one grandson.
Information about the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod is available at
http://www.fbsynod.com.