FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COLUMBIA, SC (July 25, 2020) – On the third Ballot for Bishop-Elect, more than 500 Rostered Leaders and Lay Voting Members representing churches of the South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have narrowed the candidate list to the following Rostered Leaders:
The Reverend Virginia Aebischer of Columbia, South Carolina;
The Reverend Jacqueline Utley of Columbia, South Carolina;
and The Reverend Ralph Hill of Chapin, South Carolina.
The election for a Bishop-Elect is occurring during the 2020 South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ELCA Synod Assembly being held online.
In the ELCA, Bishops serve six-year terms. According to the Synod’s Constitution, the bishop is elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot.
Two-thirds of the votes were necessary for election on the third ballot. The assembly will hold a fourth, and if necessary, fifth ballot this afternoon.
The fourth ballot is limited to the top three candidates who received the greatest number of legal votes on the third ballot. Sixty percent of the votes are necessary for a person to be elected bishop on the fourth ballot.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with nearly 3.6 million members in more than 9,200 worshipping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. 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.
About the South Carolina Synod:
The South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has nearly 52,000 members worshipping in 150 congregations across the state of South Carolina. We Lutherans in South Carolina are part of a church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace — and there’s room for all here. We seek to respond to God’s love by loving him and serving the people he has created not only in the state of South Carolina, but in many parts of the globe.
For information contact:
Neal F. Fischer
Director of Communications
803-509-8325 or 607-349-8072
