by Pastor Lisa Isenhower
On Saturday, June 14, 2025, Andrew Boozer was elected the next Vice President of the South Carolina Synod. A member of The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Newberry, Boozer was elected on the fifth ballot by a vote of 153 to 81.
Boozer is a former member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Pomaria, a former ELCA congregation. Boozer said he remembers well the fire that destroyed that church years ago and the unity and support he felt from members of the South Carolina Synod as St. Paul’s worked to rebuild their sanctuary. Years later, when St. Paul’s disaffiliated from the ELCA, he once again felt supported and aided by members of the South Carolina Synod. That experience taught Boozer something very important. “My church,” he said, “was more than a building and more than one congregation.”
Boozer has spent over 25 years working in non-profit organization. He said that in his work with non-profits, he has learned that “you must lead with your heart but not leave your head in the sand,” and he vowed to use head and heart together in finding solutions. In his words to the assembly on Saturday, prior to the fourth ballot, Boozer stated that he wants to know what’s happening in the pews and vowed to keep lines of communication open.
The Vice President of the synod is elected through a process that begins with an ecclesiastical ballot. For the second ballot on Thursday, June 12, seven candidates remained: Andrew Boozer, Tex Davis, Beth Trump, Ben Bullock, Joyce Rose-Harris, Craig Balch, and Mike Goyne. A seventy-five percent majority is required on the second ballot; there was no election on the second ballot.
A two-thirds majority is required on the third ballot. Prior to the third ballot, each nominee was given two minutes to speak. The results of the third ballot are as follows: Andrew Boozer 122, Tex Davis 103, Joyce Rose-Harris 52, Craig Balch 4, Ben Bullock 3, Mike Goyne 2, Beth Trump 0. The top three candidates moved to the fourth ballot.
Prior to the fourth ballot, the top three candidates were asked to answer two questions:
- Please share with us how your strengths as a leader match our current needs as a synod and
- How would you put the job description of the Vice President into your own words, and what aspects are you most looking forward to?
The fourth ballot requires sixty percent of votes for an election. On the fourth ballot, Andrew Boozer received 137 votes, Tex Davis 78, and Joyce Rose-Harris 58 votes. Since no candidate received sixty percent of the vote, the assembly conducted a fifth ballot on Saturday, which led to the election of Vice President Andrew Boozer.
