wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Kieschnick re-elected president

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	July 11, 2004  LCMSNews  SC4DS

	Synod re-elects Gerald Kieschnick president,
	elects William Diekelman first vice president

	ST. LOUIS  Delegates to the 62nd Regular Convention of The
Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod today (July 11) elected Dr. Gerald B.
Kieschnick to his second three-year term as president of the 2.5
million-member church body.

	The convention also elected Oklahoma District President William
Diekelman to his first term as Synod first vice president. He currently
also is pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Owasso, Okla.

	Kieschnick, 61, was elected on the first ballot on the opening
day of the convention, with 52.8 percent of the votes cast.

	My belief is that this is not so much a vote for me personally
as for the vision shared these past three years and for my ministry of
the past 34 years, Kieschnick said in remarks following his
re-election.

	Other nominees for the presidency included the incumbent first
vice president, Rev. Daniel Preus, who tallied 391 votes; Dr. Dean O.
Wenthe, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.,
107; Dr. Kurt Marquart, associate professor of systematic theology at
the Fort Wayne seminary, 77; and Diekelman, 9.

	Diekelman, 57, subsequently was elected to his first term as
Synod first vice president on the second ballot for that office. He
received 641 votes to 588 for incumbent Daniel Preus. A third nominee on
that ballot, incumbent Second Vice President Wallace Schulz, received 12
votes.

	Two other nominees were dropped after the first ballot. They
were Wyoming District President Ronald Garwood and Rev. Vernon
Gundermann, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church, Kirkwood, Mo. Each
received 30 votes.

	Kieschnick acknowledged that we have experienced a period of
disagreement the past three years, including among the Synods elected
leaders. He said it is his prayer that this not continue.

	The president also acknowledged the support of his wife, Terry,
and his family. Terry Kieschnick walked to the podium as the assembly
rose in applause.

	Kieschnick is a graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary [then
located in Springfield, Ill., now in Fort Wayne, Ind.] and received an
honorary doctor of laws degree in 1996 from Concordia University,
Austin, Texas. He and Terry have two grown children.

	His installation, and that of other LCMS officers elected during
the church bodys weeklong convention, will take place in September.

	Prior to becoming the Synods president in 2001, Kieschnick
served 10 years as president of the church bodys Texas District. Before
that, he was with the Lutheran Foundation of Texas, first as director of
development (1986-88) and then as executive director (1988-91). He also
has served as pastor of three LCMS congregations, one in Mississippi and
two in Texas.

	Between 1998 and 2001, he served as chairman of the LCMS
Commission on Theology and Church Relations.

	Diekelman has been pastor of Faith, Owasso, since 1981, and
president of the Oklahoma District since 1991. He and his wife, Carol,
have six children.

	***********************************
	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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