Wade Thomas Roof III Elected Bishop of the ELCA South Carolina Synod

CHICAGO — The Rev. Wade Thomas Roof III, Lexington, S.C., was elected June 13 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 11-13 at the Brookland Baptist Banquet and Conference Center in West Columbia, S.C.

Roof was elected on the fifth ballot, receiving 190 votes. The Rev. Rick Carter, assistant to the bishop in the South Carolina Synod, received 178 votes. A total of 185 votes was needed for election.

The bishop-elect has served as pastor of Mount Tabor Lutheran Church in West Columbia since 2014. He previously served as pastor of Resurrection and St. Matthew’s Lutheran churches in Cameron, S.C., from 2009 to 2014.

Roof earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Newberry (S.C.) College in 2003 and a Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C., in 2009. Newberry is one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities, and Southern (now on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, N.C.) is one of seven ELCA seminaries. Roof is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in congregational leadership at the M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Roof will take office on Sept. 1.

The Rev. Virginia Aebischer has served as synod bishop since 2020.

Learn more about the South Carolina Synod.

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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 2.7 million members in more than 8,300 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean. 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.Buchbinder@elca.org

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