Ann Svennungsen Elected Bishop of the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod

ELCA NEWS SERVICE February 18, 201212-06-MRC      CHICAGO (ELCA) - The Rev. Ann M. Svennungsen was elected Feb. 18 to a six-year term as bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Elected on the fifth ballot during the synod assembly Feb. 17-18 in Prior Lake, Minn., Svennungsen is the first woman to serve as bishop in any of the ELCA's six synods in Minnesota.      Svennungsen is interim pastor at St. Olaf College, an ELCA college in Northfield, Minn. She will be installed as bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod May 6 at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.      Of the 329 votes needed for an election, Svennungsen received 339 votes. The Rev. Kelly Chatman, senior pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, received 317. On the fourth ballot, Svennungsen received 239 votes to 219 for Chapman, and 197 for the Rev. Christopher P. Nelson, senior pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. There were 18 names on the nominating ballot.          Svennungsen was president of Texas Lutheran University, an ELCA university in Seguin, Texas, from 2007 to 2010, and she was a resident scholar at The Ecumenical and Cultural Institute in Collegeville, Minn., from 2010 to 2011.      Svennungsen earned a degree in mathematics from Concordia College, an ELCA college in Moorhead, Minn., and was elected student body president there. She earned a master of divinity degree at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., and was awarded Luther's "Seminary Preaching Award." Luther, one of eight seminaries of the ELCA, honored Svennungsen with its Alumni Achievement Award in 2005.      One of five Lutherans nationwide selected to participate in the Lilly Endowment National Religious Leadership Program from 1997 to 1999, Svennungsen was also one of 12 pastors nationwide chosen for the Lilly Endowment Pastors' Working Group from 2001 to 2002.      Since her ordination in 1982, she served congregations in Iowa and Minnesota until 2003, when she became president of The Fund for Theological Education in Atlanta.      Svennungsen and her husband William Russell, are parents of three children.      Prior to the election, the Rev. Glenn W. Nycklemoe served as interim bishop for the Minneapolis Area Synod since July 2011. The Rev. Craig E. Johnson resigned as synod bishop the month before to become interim senior pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Johnson, who served as synod bishop for 10 years, was offered the position after the death of Mount Olivet's senior pastor, the Rev. Paul Youngdahl.      Information about the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod is at http://www.mpls-synod.org/home on the Web. - - - About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther. For information contact: Melissa Ramirez Cooper 773-380-2956 or Melissa.RamirezCooper@ELCA.org http://www.ELCA.org/news Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lutherans Living Lutheran: http://www.livinglutheran.com http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx?a=5193