Kreiss to be installed as bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Kreiss to be installed as bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>September 21, 2011  

Kreiss to be installed as bishop of ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod
11-123-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Dr. Donald P. Kreiss will be installed
as bishop of the Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) on Sept. 24 at Christ Church Cranbrook in
Bloomfield Hills, Mich. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson will preach
and preside at the installation.

Kreiss said his installation will be an occasion for building
bridges and "a day filled with the hope that comes from the Good News of
Jesus' life, death and resurrection."

Kreiss was elected May 14 as bishop of the ELCA Southeast Michigan
Synod at the synod's assembly in Farmington Hills, Mich. He succeeds the
Rev. Stephen G. Marsh, who resigned as bishop in June 2010. The Rev.
Kenneth R. Olsen has served as interim bishop of the synod since Marsh's
resignation.

Prior to his election, Kreiss was senior pastor of Antioch Lutheran
Church in Farmington Hills since 1999.

Kreiss grew up as a member of the United Methodist Church. As an
undergraduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., a
friend invited him to the University Lutheran Church in Evanston, where
he had a positive campus ministry experience. At the church, Kreiss
struck a friendship with the Rev. Dr. Lloyd R. Kittlaus, which continues
today.

Born in Milwaukee, Kreiss earned a bachelor's degree from
Northwestern University and a master's degree in medieval languages from
the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He earned both a Master of
Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from the Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago, one of eight ELCA seminaries.

Following his ordination in 1992, Kreiss served as pastor of King of
Glory Evangelical Lutheran Church, Flushing, Mich., before he became
associate pastor at Antioch Lutheran Church. Kreiss was a cluster dean in
the Southeast Michigan Synod, a member of the alumni board of the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and a member of the Farmington
Area Interfaith Association.

Kreiss and his wife, Kristin, are parents of two children, Katherine
and Perry. The family resides in West Bloomfield, Mich.

The ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod has nearly 57,000 baptized members
in 128 congregations. The synod office is in Detroit.

Information about the ELCA Southeast Michigan Synod is at
http://www.semisynod.com/ on the Web.

>---

About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with approximately 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations
across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church
of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God
through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the
world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church
reformer, Martin Luther.

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