ELCA NEWS SERVICE
May 20, 2008
Robert Rimbo Elected Bishop of ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod
08-066-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, New York, and former bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Southeast
Michigan Synod, was elected May 17 to a six-year term as
bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod.
Rimbo will assume the role of bishop Aug. 1. An
installation service is planned for Oct. 12 at St. James
Episcopal Church, New York.
The Rev. David W. Olson, Clinton, Conn., has served
as interim bishop of the synod since Feb. 4. Olson is the
former bishop of the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod and is
now retired from active ministry. The synod's elected
bishop, the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, left to become executive
director of ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational
Mission.
Rimbo, 57, was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop
at the synod assembly held May 15-17 in Tarrytown, N.Y. He
received 236 votes to 234 for the Rev. Robert G. Wollenburg,
assistant to the bishop, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod.
There were seven abstaining votes.
On the fourth ballot for bishop Rimbo received 192 votes
to 191 for Wollenburg and 91 votes for the Rev. Gary E. Mills,
assistant to the bishop, ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod.
There were 81 names on the nominating ballot.
Born in Joliet, Ill., Rimbo graduated from Christ
Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, and served two years as executive
assistant to the project director of the Inter-Lutheran
Commission on Worship, New York, which produced the "Lutheran
Book of Worship." He was pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church,
Valley Stream, N.Y., and St. James Lutheran Church, Grosse
Pointe Farms, Mich.
Rimbo was an assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Southeast
Michigan Synod from 1991 to 1996. He was pastor of Antioch
Lutheran Church, Farmington Hills, Mich., when elected bishop
of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod in 1998. He left the
office of bishop in 2005 to become pastor of Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church.
Rimbo and his wife Lois are parents of two adult children.
The ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod consists of
approximately 80,000 Lutherans in 210 congregations in 14
New York counties. The synod office is in New York City.
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The home page for the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod
is at http://www.mnys.org/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
