Title: Richard Graham Elected Bishop of ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod ELCA NEWS SERVICE
June 12, 2007
Richard Graham Elected Bishop of ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod 07-105-KK*/LL*
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Richard H. Graham, Hope Lutheran Church and Student Center, College Park, Md., was elected June 8 to a six-year term as bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Graham was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop, 188-139 over the Rev. Philip C. Hirsch, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fairfax, Va.
The synod assembly was June 7-9 in Gettysburg, Pa.
Graham, 56, will succeed the Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, 72, who had announced he would not seek re-election. Schneider has served as bishop of the synod since 1995.
Graham led on the fourth ballot for bishop with 149 votes. Hirsch received 101 votes, and the Rev. Ronald G. Qualley, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Fairfax, received 79 votes. There were 70 names on the first or nominating ballot.
Graham will be installed Oct. 14 at a location to be announced.
Born in Indianapolis, Graham received a bachelor's degree in English literature at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in 1973. In 1977 he received a master of divinity degree from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., and a master's degree in church history from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., in 1988.
After he was ordained in 1978, Graham was associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Hagerstown, Md., and St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church, Annapolis, Md.
Graham serves as the synod secretary. He has also been a member of the synod's candidacy committee and a member of the board of trustees of the National Lutheran Home for the Aged, Rockville, Md.
Graham and his wife Nancy Ann are the parents of two adult children. The Grahams reside in College Park.
The ELCA Metropolitan, Washington D.C., Synod has 35,744 baptized members in 75 congregations. The synod office is in Washington D.C.
---
Information about the ELCA Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod is at http://www.metrodcELCA.org/ on the Web.
* Karen S. Krueger, communication coordinator, ELCA Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod, provided information.
* 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