wfn.org | Main Re-Elected Lutheran Bishop of Upper Susquehanna Synod

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 11, 2001

MAIN RE-ELECTED LUTHERAN BISHOP OF UPPER SUSQUEHANNA SYNOD
01-151-FI/VF*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. A. Donald Main was re-elected bishop of
the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) June 8 when the synod met in assembly at Weber Chapel,
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa.  He received 241 of 296 votes
cast on the first ballot for another six-year term as bishop.
     There were 29 names placed in nomination, and 224 votes were
needed for election on the first ballot.  The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin, St.
Mark Lutheran Church, Williamsport, Pa., received nine votes.  The Rev.
Glenn E. Heasley, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod,
and the Rev. Ralph D. Sigler Jr., St. Matthew Lutheran Church,
Bloomsburg, Pa., each received five votes.
     Born in Frederick, Md., Main, 58, is a graduate of Gettysburg
College, Gettysburg, Pa., and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Gettysburg.  He has served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church,
(Juniata) Altoona, Pa., and Zion Lutheran Church, Sunbury, Pa.
     Main was first elected bishop of the Upper Susquehanna Synod in
1987, when a merger of three Lutheran church bodies formed the ELCA.  He
was re-elected bishop in 1991 and in 1995, when the term of a bishop was
extended from four to six years.
     Main and his wife Carol are the parents of three sons.
     The ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod has 47,361 baptized members in
143 congregations across 10 counties in north-central Pennsylvania.
Synod offices are in Lewisburg, Pa.
     Susquehanna University and Gettysburg College are two of 28 higher
education institutions of the ELCA.  The Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Gettysburg is one of eight ELCA seminaries.  Susquehanna awarded Main
an honorary doctor of divinity in 1987.

* Virginia Frantz is administrative assistant for the ELCA Upper
Susquehanna Synod.

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