Title: Neils Elected Bishop of ELCA Grand Canyon Synod
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 6, 2001
NEILS ELECTED BISHOP OF ELCA GRAND CANYON SYNOD
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CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Michael J. Neils, 51, was elected June
2 to a six-year term as bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) during the synod's
assembly May 31-June 2. Neils is senior pastor at All Saints Lutheran
Church, Phoenix.
Neils was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop, 199-178, over
the Rev. Joel S. Bjerkestrand, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church,
Fountain Hills, Ariz. There were about 70 names on the nominating
ballot.
Neils will succeed the Rev. Howard E. Wennes, who has served as
bishop since 1987 and announced that he would not seek re-election.
Neils will assume the bishop's role Sept. 1. He will be installed Sept.
9 at the Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, Ariz.
Neils, who was born in Dalles, Ore., earned a bachelor's degree in
philosophy in 1971 from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.,
where he graduated magna cum laude. Pacific Lutheran is one of the 28
ELCA higher education institutions. He attended Christ Seminary in
Exile, St. Louis, Mo., where he earned a master of divinity degree in
1976. In 1985, he completed additional graduate study at Union
Theological Seminary, N.Y.
After his ordination in 1977, Neils served as assistant pastor at
Faith Lutheran Church, New Providence, N.J. He later served as pastor
at First Lutheran Church, Montclair, N.J., until 1991, when he became
pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church.
Neils and his wife, Cheryl, have two children.
The ELCA Grand Canyon Synod has 79,587 baptized members in 106
congregations across Arizona and southern Nevada. Its offices are
located in Phoenix.
[*Michelle T. Mills is a senior at Bradley University, Peoria, Ill. This
summer she is an intern with ELCA News and Information.]
[*Margery Mayes is synod supplement editor for The Lutheran, the magazine
of the ELCA, and newsletter editor for the ELCA Grand Canyon 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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