New Bishop to be Elected at Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's 23rd annual Synod Assembly in Northern Kentucky
NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Danielle Burrus
(317) 253-3522
iksynod@iksynod.org
New Bishop to be Elected at Indiana-Kentucky Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;s 23rd annual Synod Assembly in Northern Kentucky
Over 700 to attend Synod Assembly at Northern Kentucky Convention Center June 4-6
Covington, KY/June 2, 2010—More than 700 people will gather in Northern Kentucky June 4-6 for the 23rd annual Indiana-Kentucky Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to elect a new bishop as well as for worship, fellowship, education, charitable activities and legislative business.
Comprised of 220 congregations throughout Indiana and Kentucky, the Indiana-Kentucky Synod is one of 65 geographic sub-groups of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a large mainline Protestant denomination covering the U.S. and the Caribbean. The Indiana-Kentucky Synod, ELCA, has offices in Indianapolis.
Rev. James R. Stuck, the current bishop of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, ELCA, is retiring after 12 years of service. Many important milestones were achieved under Bishop Stuck's leadership, including establishing the Freed to Lead Fund to lift the increasing financial burden on rostered leaders caused by rising seminary costs, traditionally low compensation and inadequate retirement savings. Gifts given to the Freed to Lead Fund in Bishop Stuck's name will be tallied and presented to him in appreciation of his ministry at the 2010 Synod Assembly.
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson will preside over the election process that will begin Friday, June 4 in the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. If 75% of voting members write the same name on the ballot, there is election of a new bishop. If this does not occur, then those who received the top 10 highest vote counts will be nominees on the second ballot. Each subsequent ballot will have fewer candidates, thereby requiring a lower percentage of votes cast to elect a new bishop.
The Bishop-elect will assume office on September 1, 2010. All ordained ministers under call and lay ministers under call are voting members as are representative lay members from every congregation within the Synod.
Among other highlights of the 23rd annual Synod Assembly are:
- Celebration banquet and reception for retiring Bishop James R. Stuck
- Offerings to support earthquake reconstruction in Chile and to help create a fund to start new congregations in the I-K Synod
- Fair Trade Fair
- Inspiring worship and Eucharistic celebrations
- Prayer labyrinth
- Keynote speaker Dr. Diana Butler Bass, an independent scholar of American religion and culture and author of seven books including the best seller, "Christianity for the Rest of Us"
- pecial musician Ken Medema who has become an accomplished composer, pianist and vocalist despite being blind from birth
- Ordination of Dennis Zimmerman
- Recognition luncheon for those celebrating ordination anniversaries
- Celebration of ministries
- Resolutions, committee reports and passing of a budget.
Estimated economic impact of the Synod Assembly on the Northern Kentucky community is $150,700. For more information on the Indiana-Kentucky Synod, visit www.iksynod.org.
The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service, and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings, and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors’ spending in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties in 2009 was $262 million.