Title: ELCA Seminary Professor Elected Bishop of Lund Diocese, Sweden ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 24, 2006
ELCA Seminary Professor Elected Bishop of Lund Diocese, Sweden 06-158-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Antje Jackelen was elected Oct. 17 to become bishop of the Lund Diocese of the Church of Sweden on April 1. Jackelen is an associate professor of systematic theology and director of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). LSTC is one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Ordained in 1980 by the Church of Sweden, Jackelen was a parish pastor for 16 years in the Stockholm and Lund Dioceses. She was a senior pastor of Gardstanga and served as a pastor at Lund Cathedral.
The German scholar earned degrees from the University of Tuebingen in Germany and from Uppsala University and Lund University in Sweden. She taught courses at Lund University before joining the LSTC faculty in 2001. She was appointed director of the Zygon Center in 2003.
"My time at LSTC has been wonderful and challenging," Jackelen said in an LSTC news release. "I have found it exciting to work with both masters and Ph.D. students. I have loved the combination of academic rigor and vocational commitment at the Lutheran School of Theology," she said.
At LSTC Jackelen taught systematic theology with a specialization in religion and science. Her areas of research have included the concept of time; the relevance of theological hermeneutics in religion and science; feminism and postmodernism as applied hermeneutics; food safety and food justice from a religion-and-science perspective; and the theological significance of complexity and emergence.
Jackelen is a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion and serves on the council of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. She is a member of the board of directors of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science and is an editorial advisor to the journals "Theology and Science" and "Dialog: A Journal of Theology."
"LSTC will miss this treasured member of the faculty, skilled director of the Zygon Center, and sought-after advisor to our doctoral students in religion and science," said the Rev. Kathleen D. Billman in the LSTC news release. Billman is dean of academic affairs and professor of pastoral theology at LSTC.
"The honor that Antje has received certainly deserves our warmest congratulations and well-wishes," Billman said.
Jackelen is married to the Rev. Heinz Jackelen. They are the parents of two daughters.
The Church of Sweden has 13 dioceses and approximately 7 million members. Each diocese is led by a bishop, who is elected by the priests of the diocese together with an equal number of lay delegates.
Approximately 76 percent of the 1.32 million residents of the Lund Diocese are members of the Church of Sweden. There are 217 parishes in the diocese. -- -- --
The Church of Sweden maintains information in English at http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/sprakversioner_en.asp on the Web.
The home page of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is at http://www.lstc.edu/ and that of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science is at http://www.zygoncenter.org/ 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