ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 11, 2007
ELCA Assembly Elects David Swartling Secretary of the ELCA 07-CWA-041-CA
CHICAGO (ELCA) - David Swartling, a trial lawyer from Seattle, was elected Aug. 11 to a six-year term as secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the church body's 2007 Assembly here.
Swartling was elected to the position after a series of five ballots. On the final ballot, he received 611 votes, with the Rev. Paul A. Schreck, currently an assistant to the ELCA secretary receiving 366 votes.
The secretary is responsible for ELCA rosters, interpretation of governing documents such as the church's constitution and handles other concerns for the 4.8 million- member church body. The post is a staff position at the ELCA headquarters in Chicago.
Swartling will succeed the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, who has held the post of secretary since the ELCA was formed in 1987 by a merger of three Lutheran denominations. Almen will leave office Oct. 31.
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Information about the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/ on the Web.
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