wfn.org | ELCA Presiding Bishop Installation in Chicago and on the Web

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 4, 2001

ELCA PRESIDING BISHOP INSTALLATION IN CHICAGO AND ON THE WEB
01-244-JB/FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson will be installed as the
third presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) Oct. 6 here at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on the campus of the
University of Chicago.  The ceremony will be "Webcast" live on the
Internet.
     The http://www.elca.org/installation/ page on the ELCA Web site
will begin providing live video and audio from Rockefeller Chapel at
2:30 p.m. EDT.  The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. EDT.
     Services of www.FaithandValues.com will make it possible for 300
viewers to see and hear the ceremony simultaneously, said Dr. Paul D.
Edison-Swift, director for resource information and networks, ELCA
Department for Communication.
     "It will be good to focus for an afternoon on this joyous
celebration," said Edison-Swift.  "We are very pleased to be able to
share it with our members and the rest of the world," he said.
     Hanson, 54, was elected to a six-year term as presiding bishop
Aug. 11 at the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Indianapolis.  He will
assume the role of ELCA presiding bishop Nov. 1.
     The current ELCA presiding bishop, the Rev. H. George Anderson,
69, will conclude his six-year term Oct. 31.  The ELCA's first presiding
bishop, the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom, served two terms before he
retired in 1995.
     Among invited guests are leaders of the five churches with which
the ELCA has a relationship of full communion: the Episcopal Church,
USA, Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed
Church in America and United Church of Christ.  Churches in full
communion agree to share a variety of ministries, and, in certain
circumstances, clergy from one church body may serve in a congregation
of the other.
     In addition, Lutheran bishops from outside the United States who
have confirmed their attendance include the Rev. Medardo Gomez Soto,
bishop of the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod, San Salvador, El Salvador; the
Rev. Maria Jepsen, bishop of the Hamburg Diocese, North Elbian
Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hamburg, Germany; the Rt. Rev. Owdenburg M.
Mdegella, bishop of the Iringa Diocese, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Tanzania; the Rev. Ambrose Moyo, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo; the Rev. Julius Paul, bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
     Hanson will be the first ELCA presiding bishop installed into the
"historic episcopate," a line of bishops extending back to the early
days of the Christian church.  The installation procedure is part of the
full communion relationship of the ELCA and Episcopal Church.  The Rt.
Rev. Frank T. Griswold III, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church,
will be among the installation participants.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html