ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 5, 2009  

Stephen Marsh Elected Bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod
09-105-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen G. Marsh was elected
May 2 to a six-year term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Southeast Michigan Synod. Marsh was
elected at the synod assembly at First English Lutheran Church,
Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. He is the synod's assistant to the
bishop for African American strategy and justice concerns.
     Marsh, 54, received 210 votes to 148 cast for the Rev.
Adolph A. "Skip" Wachsmann III, Genesis Lutheran Church, Detroit,
on the fifth and final ballot. The Rev. Cherlyne V. Beck,
assistant to the bishop for Christian vocation, ELCA Southeast
Michigan Synod, was also a candidate on the fourth ballot.
There were 69 nominees on the first ballot for bishop.
     Born in Chicago, Marsh is a graduate of Northwestern
University, Evanston, Ill., and Evangelical Lutheran Theological
Seminary (now Trinity Lutheran Seminary), Columbus, Ohio. He
also attended Makumira Theological College in Arusha, Tanzania,
in 1981.
     Marsh was ordained in 1983 by the former Lutheran Church
in America and served as pastor of three congregations -- St.
Peter Lutheran Church, Springfield Gardens (Queens), N.Y.;
The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, Chicago; and The
Church of the Holy Redeemer, Brooklyn, N.Y. -- before joining
the staff of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod in 2004.
     Marsh wrote the monthly "Our Faith" column during 2007-2008
for The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA.
     The Rev. Kenneth R. Olsen has been serving the ELCA
Southeast Michigan Synod as interim bishop, following the 
Aug. 16, 2008, death of the bishop, the Rev. John H.K.
Schreiber.
     Marsh will be installed as the synod's bishop Sept. 26
in Detroit. He is the father of an adult daughter and is a
member of Spirit of Hope Lutheran Church, Detroit.
     The ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod includes more than
59,000 baptized members in 131 congregations in 10 Michigan
counties. The synod office is in Detroit.
-- -- --
     The home page of the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod is
at http://www.metrodetroitELCA.org/home.htm on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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