wfn.org | Stanley Olson Named Director, ELCA Division for Ministry

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 26, 2002

STANLEY OLSON NAMED DIRECTOR, ELCA DIVISION FOR MINISTRY
02-176-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, bishop of the
Southwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA), was elected July 25 to a four-year appointment as
executive director of the Division for Ministry, effective Nov. 1.
     Olson has served as bishop of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod
since 1994.  He was re-elected in June 2000 to serve a second six-year
term as bishop.  The Southwestern Minnesota Synod, Redwood Falls,
includes more than 138,000 Lutherans in 280 congregations across 29
Minnesota counties.  There are 65 synods in the ELCA, each headed by a
bishop.
     "The fundamental work of the ELCA Division for Ministry keeps in
balance the vocation of all Christians and the particular public
ministry of pastors, rostered lay persons and others who are functioning
by the church's authorization in such roles.  Theological education is a
key component in all that," said Olson.
     "I look forward to working with staff in the churchwide
organization, particularly with [the Rev. Mark S.] Hanson, but also to
drawing on my years of ministry with congregations, parish pastors,
associates in ministry and others working in the day-to-day life of the
church.  I want to build on the strong work that has been done by the
division," Olson said.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, said, "It
is with great joy that we welcome the Rev. Stanley Olson to serve as the
executive director of the Division for Ministry."
     "Pastor Olson is a servant leader with significant experience as a
parish pastor, synodical bishop and seminary professor.  He brings to
this particular call a deep commitment to equip the laity for living out
their faith in daily life through a variety of vocations.  He has great
gifts as a theologian, a pastor with passion for the Gospel, and an
ability to listen and bring people together so that we might more
effectively be Christ's church in and for the sake of this world.  I
look forward to serving with him as a colleague in ministry and
leadership," Hanson said.
     The Division for Ministry board named Olson to succeed the Rev.
Joseph M. Wagner during a special meeting.  Fifteen of the board's 21
members were in the meeting.
     Wagner, who served as executive director of the Division for
Ministry since the beginning of the ELCA in 1988, retired in May 2002.
Hanson appointed the Rev. Jonathan P. Strandjord, director for
theological education, Division for Ministry, as acting executive
director of the division until a new director was named.
     Kevin J. Boatright, Lawrence, Kan., chair of the ELCA Division for
Ministry board, said Olson "emerged from the very beginning as a strong
candidate."  Boatright is associate executive vice chancellor for
university relations, University of Kansas.
     "With Joe Wagner serving in the role as executive director for the
division since the beginning of the ELCA, it was a challenge for [the
board] to find someone who had the needed breadth of background, staff
management experience, wide involvement in the ELCA, ecumenical
sensitivity, knowledge of the church and a personal understanding of the
wide variety of issues the division deals with.  Stan Olson met the
strong criteria," Boatright said.
     "Stan is very committed to working with the board in equipping all
members of the ELCA for leadership and service, which not only involves
formal theological education but also involves the whole question of
ministry and daily life, a primary function of the division.  Stan
expressed to the board a clear sense that he is committed to the full
mission of the division," said Boatright.
     Born in Eagle Grove, Iowa, Olson, 56, is a graduate of Waldorf
College, Forest City, Iowa; St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.; Luther
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn; and Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D.
in New Testament.
     Olson served as pastor of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, New Ulm,
Minn., First Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn., and Bethesda Lutheran
Church, New Haven, Conn.  He taught New Testament for four years at
Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, (now Luther Seminary) St.
Paul, Minn.
     Olson and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of two adult daughters
-- Maren and Christa.
     The Division for Ministry supports the ministry of all baptized
people in the church including laity, ordained ministers, associates in
ministry, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.  The next meeting of the
division's board is scheduled for Oct. 11-13 here.
     Waldorf and St. Olaf College are two of 28 college and
universities of the ELCA. Luther Seminary is one of eight seminaries of
the ELCA.
-- -- --
     Information about the ELCA Division for Ministry is maintained at
http://www.elca.org/dm on the Internet.

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