ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 20, 2008 Herman Yoos Elected Bishop of ELCA South Carolina Synod 08-067-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Herman R. Yoos III, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Columbia, S.C., was elected May 18 to a six-year term as bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) South Carolina Synod. On Aug. 1 he succeeds the Rev. David A. Donges, who announced earlier his plans to retire. Yoos was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop during the synod assembly May 16-18 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, S.C. He received 351 votes to 243 for the Rev. Melvin E. Amundson, assistant to the bishop, ELCA South Carolina Synod. The Rev. Tony A. Metze, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Columbia, was also a candidate on the fourth ballot. There were 84 names on the nominating ballot. Yoos, 56, will be installed as bishop in a service Oct. 11 at Newberry College, Newberry, S.C. Newberry is one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities. Born in Concord, N.C., Yoos graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (Southern), Columbia. He studied at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) and earned a doctorate in ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga. Southern and LSTC are two of the ELCA's eight seminaries. Ordained in 1979 Yoos served as pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church, Charlotte, N.C., and Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Charleston, S.C., before Good Shepherd Lutheran Church called him to Columbia in 1996. Yoos and his wife Cindy are parents of three adult children. The ELCA South Carolina Synod consists of approximately 58,000 Lutherans in 163 congregations across South Carolina. The synod office is in Columbia. -- -- -- The home page for the ELCA South Carolina Synod is at http://www.sclutheran.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