Title: Mansholt Elected Bishop of ELCA Central States Synod
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 11, 2001
MANSHOLT ELECTED BISHOP OF ELCA CENTRAL STATES SYNOD
01-155-CH*/JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt was elected June 9
to a six-year term as bishop of the Central States Synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Mansholt, 52, is pastor
at Reformation Lutheran Church, Wichita, Kan.
Mansholt was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop at the synod
assembly in Kansas City, Mo. Assembly voting members gave him 299
votes, over the Rev. Gordon D. Peterson Jr., who received 240 votes.
Peterson is the synod's senior assistant to the bishop. On the fourth
ballot for bishop, the Rev. Russell E. Saltzman, Ruskin Heights Lutheran
Church, Kansas City, Mo., received votes for bishop as did Peterson and
Mansholt. There were 85 nominees on the first ballot.
Mansholt will assume the role of bishop Sept. 1, succeeding the
Rev. Charles H. Maahs, who has served as bishop of the synod since 1987.
Maahs announced earlier he would not seek re-election.
"I intend to be the bishop to everyone, to all congregations, all
pastors, all the baptized and to work for unity of the church," Mansholt
told the assembly following his election.
Mansholt will be a fine bishop for the Central States Synod,
Peterson said. "He will serve you well," Peterson said. "He is a good
churchman, steeped in the gospel. He will touch you with the good news
of Christ."
Mansholt has served on the ELCA Central States Synod Council and
the council's finance committee. He has also served on the synod's
mission planning committee. Mansholt has also been active in a variety
of community service activities.
Mansholt, who was born in Alton, Ill., earned a bachelor's degree
at Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., a Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod (LCMS) higher education institution. He earned a master
of divinity degree from Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis. He was
ordained in the LCMS in 1974, before joining the Association of
Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) in 1977.
The AELC, Lutheran Church in America and American Lutheran Church
merged in 1987 to the form the ELCA.
In 1989 he earned a doctor of ministry degree at the Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago, an ELCA seminary.
Before he was pastor at Reformation Lutheran Church, Mansholt
served at Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, Florissant, Mo., Christ
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Chickasha, Okla., both ELCA congregations,
and First Lutheran Church, Chickasha, Okla., an LCMS congregation.
Mansholt and his wife Anita are parents of two grown children.
The ELCA Central States Synod has 71,670 Lutherans in 219
congregations. Its offices are in Shawnee Mission, Kan.
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[*Cheryl L. Hollich is assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Central
States Synod.]
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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