ELCA NEWS SERVICE
May 19, 2006
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary Elects Marcus Miller as President 06-072-FI/JW/CH*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Marcus J. Miller, bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was elected May 18 by the board of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., to succeed the Rev. Frederick Reisz Jr. as the seminary's president on Aug. 15. Southern is one of eight ELCA seminaries.
On Aug. 19, 2005, Reisz announced to the seminary board his plans to retire this summer after 14 years as president of Southern Seminary.
"I am honored by this call," said Miller, 59. "Southern is a fine seminary with a splendid reputation and a very capable faculty."
"I perceive Southern Seminary as a community dedicated to the Scriptures and Confessions and the unity of the church," Miller said, adding that the South Carolina seminary "prepares faithful and competent pastors who love Christ and his body, the church."
"I am delighted that Bishop Miller has accepted this call to be president of our seminary," Reisz said. "It has been a blessed community for my wife, May, and me. The choice of Bishop Miller as president-elect is a perfect fit for our seminary's mission. He will be challenged and blessed by this call," he said.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said, "I am delighted to affirm this nomination. Bishop Miller brings to this call theological wisdom grounded in the (Lutheran) Confessions and scripture. He has a clear ecumenical commitment."
Hanson said, Miller "will build upon the strengths of Southern Seminary's identity and mission. I believe he will be attentive to relationships, while helping the seminary continually discern its vision for the future."
Dr. Susan W. McArver, director of the seminary's Center on Religion in the South and associate professor of educational ministry and church history, served on the presidential search committee. She said Miller's "passion for the gospel and the mission of the church, centered in Word and Sacrament, came through clearly in his presentations, and his collegial leadership style will help students, staff, faculty and trustees work together to shape the future vision of the seminary."
Dr. Michael J. Root, the seminary's vice president for academic affairs and dean, is a professor of systematic theology and an ELCA associate in ministry. "Working with Bishop Miller within the church and on the national Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, I have come to know him as an astute, faithful and engaged leader," he said.
"Southern Seminary has grown and prospered under the leadership of Fred Reisz and should continue to do so with president-elect Miller," Root said.
Born Sept. 1, 1946, in Wyandotte, Mich., Miller graduated from Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and earned a master of divinity degree in 1971 from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and a master of sacred theology degree and doctorate from New York Theological Seminary. He was pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Brooklyn, Ohio, before the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod elected him bishop in 1995. The synod re-elected him to a second six-year term as bishop in 2001.
Miller and his wife Katherine, a music teacher, are parents of two grown children and have three grandchildren.
Southern Seminary was established in 1830. The current student body of around 200 is representative of all regions of the United States and includes international students. Approximately one-fourth of the students at the Lutheran seminary are members of other Christian denominations.
The ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod includes 86,353 Lutherans in 207 congregations in 20 counties of northeast Ohio.
In a May 19 letter to the synod, Miller said the process for electing a new bishop will be on the agenda of the synod council's May 20 meeting. He expressed his hope that specifics about the transition would be presented at the synod's assembly June 16-17 in Akron, Ohio.
"I intend to work diligently in the synod until my departure to bring to completion a number of projects. I commit myself to make this transition to a new bishop as healthy and life giving as possible. I commit myself to Christ and to you for my remaining days as bishop of this synod," Miller wrote.
"This call as bishop has been a great blessing to me. I have been stretched and challenged in ways I could not have imagined when you called me 11 years ago and by the grace of God we have continued and strengthened this ministry," he wrote. -- -- --
The home page of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., is at http://www.ltss.edu/ and that of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod is at http://www.neos-ELCA.org/ on the Web.
A related news release on the retirement of the Rev. Frederick Reisz Jr. is at http://www.ELCA.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3213 on the ELCA Web site.
* Judi Wise is administrative assistant to the bishop, Northeastern Ohio Synod, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and Cristy Huntley is director of church and public relations, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia S.C.
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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog