ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 14, 2007
Bouman to Lead ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission
07-192-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the
Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA), was elected Nov. 11 by the ELCA Church Council to
a four-year appointment as executive director of ELCA Evangelical
Outreach and Congregational Mission (EOCM) beginning Jan. 1,
2008.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and
serves as the legislative authority of the church between
churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 9-11.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 17-23,
2009, in Minneapolis.
"Saying good-bye is so incredibly difficult. I have shared
so much of my life with the wonderful lives of the people of this
synod and this metropolis. We went through Ground Zero together.
We buried our dead and re-imagined the church in the wake of that
tragedy," Bouman said. "We have planted so many new ministries
among people who are 'the road not taken' by traditional
Lutheranism."
"In some ways mission and ministry in the Metropolitan New
York Synod has been 'going to school' on what mission and
ministry are going to be like all across our country in the
coming decades," Bouman said. "I've learned some things, and I'm
looking forward to sharing them with the wider church," he said.
"We have a lot to learn from each other, and it will be my
joy to advocate and agitate for the missional heart of this
church as the director of EOCM. I look forward to getting on the
road with my many new colleagues who will share with me the
ministries to which God has called them," Bouman said.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced
the council's unanimous election of Bouman here Nov. 13.
"Bishop Bouman has exemplified in his parish and synodical
ministries leadership that is Christ centered, Spirit gifted,
biblically engaged, theologically formed and contextually
shaped," Hanson said in a prepared statement. "He has a passion
to proclaim Christ, make disciples and build up the church for
the sake of the world."
"Bishop Bouman developed a Diakonia program with over 800
graduates, some of whom are serving as pastors," Hanson said.
"Under his leadership over 35 new ministries have been initiated.
Worship occurs in over 25 languages in the synod," he said.
Hanson recalled that Bouman saw the ELCA Metropolitan New
York Synod through the challenges of dealing with the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He listed other "hallmarks" of
Bouman's leadership as bishop: "accompanying those who live in
poverty, working together for a more just society, extending
hospitality to the immigrant, striving to become a multicultural,
diverse church while building upon our strong global and
ecumenical partnerships."
Bouman will succeed the Rev. Richard A. Magnus, who will
retire Dec. 31. EOCM is a program unit of the ELCA. Its 149-
member staff facilitates "the efforts of congregations, synods,
and related institutions and agencies in reaching out in witness
to the gospel to people in all contexts and cultures" across the
United States and Caribbean. It works to develop new
congregations and ministries, and to renew and equip existing
ELCA ministries in evangelical outreach.
Born April 14, 1947, in Melrose Park, Ill., Bouman is a
graduate of Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He earned a master of sacred
theology degree and a doctorate in ministry from New York
Theological Seminary, New York. General Theological Seminary,
New York, awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree in
2001.
Ordained in 1973 by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod,
Bouman served as pastor of Christ and St. Jacobus Lutheran
Church, Woodside, Queens, N.Y., and Atonement Lutheran Church,
Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y. His pastoral call was transferred
to the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) in
1977, and he served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Bogota,
N.J., from 1982 to 1992. The AELC, American Lutheran Church and
Lutheran Church in America formed the ELCA in 1988.
In 1992 Bouman became an assistant to the bishop of the ELCA
Metropolitan New York Synod and in 1996 was elected to succeed
the Rev. James E. Sudbrock as bishop. The synod elected Bouman
to a second six-year term as bishop in 2002.
Bouman is author of several articles, curricula, devotionals
and books, including "From the Parish for the Life of the World,"
published in 2000 by Augsburg Fortress, and "Grace All Around
Us," published in 2007 by Augsburg Books. Augsburg Fortress is
the publishing ministry of the ELCA.
Bouman and his wife Janet are the parents of three adult
children.
-- -- --
Information about Evangelical Outreach and Congregational
Mission is at http://www.ELCA.org/eocm/ on the ELCA Web site.
The home page of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod is at
http://www.mnys.org/ on the Web.
A related story on the retirement of the Rev. Richard A.
Magnus is at http://www.ELCA.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3637 on the
ELCA Web site.
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
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