wfn.org | Bishop of ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod to Resign in 2002

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 25, 2001

BISHOP OF ELCA SIERRA PACIFIC SYNOD TO RESIGN IN 2002
01-267-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA)   The Rev. Robert W. Mattheis, bishop of the
Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), announced in a letter to synod congregations last month that
he will resign as bishop effective May 31, 2002.
     Mattheis also reported his decision to the Sierra Pacific Synod
Council, which met Sept. 21-22.  A new synod bishop will be elected
at the synod assembly in April 2002 in Fresno, Calif.
     Mattheis said he expects to make a full recovery from prostate
and kidney cancer. However, the treatment process has been longer
than anticipated, and Mattheis felt this decision was necessary, he
said.
  Mattheis was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the synod
in 1994, and re-elected to a second six-year term in 2000.
  "When I was re-elected in 2000 I stated that I would serve so
long as I sensed a compelling call to this office," Mattheis said in
his letter. "The past year with its many surgeries and medical
treatments have taken their toll. I sense that it is time for me to
step aside and allow new leadership to guide us in our journey
towards becoming a synod that is 'In Christ ... A Missional Church,'"
a reference to the synod's vision.
  Mattheis said he was making his intentions known now to allow
the synod to plan for the change in leadership.
  "This interim time will, by our prayer and invitation, be a
time of the Holy Spirit," he wrote. "With such prayer and meditation,
we will truly choose a pastor endowed with the gifts of the spirit
for the office of bishop."
  Mattheis, 65, is a graduate of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa,
and of Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.  He has been a pastor of
Lutheran congregations in Ferndale and Lodi, Calif., and in
Hartington and Crofton, Neb.
  He and his wife, Janet, are parents of four grown children.
  The ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod is about 76,065 Lutherans in 214
congregations in northern California and northern Nevada. Synod
offices are in Oakland, Calif.

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