ELCA News Blog
June 6, 2007
E. Roy Riley Jr. re-elected bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod
by Lauren A. Lamb,* ELCA News Service
The Rev. E. Roy Riley Jr. was re-elected to a six-year term as bishop of the New Jersey Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the synod assembly May 31-June 2 in Brunswick, N.J. Riley, 59, was elected on the first ballot for bishop with 414 votes. There were 38 candidates on the first or nominating ballot. Riley's new term begins Sept. 1.
Riley was born in Columbia, S.C., was assistant to the bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod before he was first elected bishop in 1991. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C. Lenoir-Rhyne is one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities. Riley earned a master of divinity degree at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., one of eight ELCA seminaries. He was pastor at Augsburg Lutheran Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. before he began his service to the New Jersey Synod.
The ELCA New Jersey Synod has 74,300 members in 186 congregations. The synod office is in Hamilton Square.
* Information was provided by the Rev. Charles Austin, ELCA New Jersey Synod.
* Lauren A. Lamb is a senior public relations and speech communication major at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog