New bishop to be called

S.C. Evangelical Lutheran synod to elect new leader

By CAROLYN CLICK - cclick@thestate.com

For only the fifth time in 65 years, South Carolina Lutherans this weekend will elect a bishop, winnowing a field of nominees to one for the highest position in the S.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The election is a historic one because the field is wide open. Bishop David A. Donges, who has served two six-year terms as bishop and eight years previously as an assistant bishop, is retiring July 31.

More than 700 voting members began assembly Friday at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center as they prepared for the first ballot of what may be a three-day, five-ballot process.

Any ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is eligible for nomination, so the first ballot is an opportunity to promote both the known and unknown among the faithful, said Mel Amundson, an assistant bishop for congregational life.

“There could be 100 people,” he said.

By Friday evening, there were names on the first ballot. Those who wished to withdraw their names had to do so by 9:15 a.m. today.

The ecclesiastical ballot process, an arcane procedure to outsiders, will continue today with the top seven names on the third ballot, the top three on the fourth ballot and the top two on the fifth ballot.

Voting members will be able to hear the top three candidates respond to a set of predetermined questions.

The Rev. Mary Anderson, pastor of Incarnation Lutheran Church in Columbia, said she has worked on a 10-member transition team to determine “what kind of leadership gifts do we think we need in a new bishop.”

“My feeling is the (Holy) Spirit can work in very many ways,” she said.

Donges, who presided over the Friday night worship and communion service, will be honored tonight at a celebration banquet.

Through the three-day weekend, conference-goers will celebrate and plan the work of the Protestant denomination, which represents about 63,000 parishioners and 163 congregations in the state.

The theme is “God’s Work. Our Hands” and by Friday afternoon, voting members had decorated a large cross on the podium with paper hands, said Celie Addy, the synod’s communications coordinator.

Bishop Mark Hansen, the Chicago-based presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will lead worship on Sunday.

Reach Click at (803) 771-8386.