ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 9, 2008
Mark Narum Elected Bishop of ELCA Western North Dakota Synod
08-083-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark E. Narum, Prairie
Lutheran Parish, was elected June 7 to a six-year term
as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) Western North Dakota Synod. Prairie Lutheran Parish
consists of four North Dakota congregations: Faith Lutheran
Church, Palermo; Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Ross; American
Lutheran Church, Stanley; and Knife River Lutheran Church,
Stanley.
Narum will be installed Aug. 17 at a service at Trinity
Lutheran Church, Bismarck, N.D., and will succeed the Rev.
Duane C. Danielson on Sept. 1. Danielson served two six-year
terms as the synod's bishop and was ineligible for re-election.
Narum was elected with 207 votes on the fourth ballot for
bishop during the synod's assembly June 6-7 in Minot, N.D.
The Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, former bishop, ELCA South
Dakota Synod, Sioux Falls, received 83 votes on the fourth
ballot and the Rev. Steven A. Sathre, Trinity Lutheran Church,
Bismarck, received 52 votes. There were 56 names on the first
and nominating ballot.
Narum, 45, was born in Garrison, N.D., and graduated from
Minot State University, Minot, and Wartburg Theological
Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa. Wartburg is one of eight ELCA
seminaries. Narum has served as pastor of the four-point
parish since ordination in 1999.
"I am a product of the Western North Dakota Synod. I
love this place and the ministry God has set before us here,"
Narum said. "I like to dream, draw others into that dream
and then see where the Spirit leads. What new possibilities
does God have in store, and what can we dream into reality
through Christ?"
Narum and his wife Janice reside in Stanley. They are
parents of three children.
The ELCA Western North Dakota Synod includes approximately
74,000 Lutherans in 197 congregations across 34 North Dakota
counties and four parishes in South Dakota. The synod office
is in Bismarck.
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The home page of the ELCA Western North Dakota Synod is
at http://www.wndsynod.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
