Title: Bouman to Lead ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 14, 2007
Bouman to Lead ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission 07-192-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), was elected Nov. 11 by the ELCA Church Council to a four-year appointment as executive director of ELCA Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission (EOCM) beginning Jan. 1, 2008.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 9-11. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 17-23, 2009, in Minneapolis.
"Saying good-bye is so incredibly difficult. I have shared so much of my life with the wonderful lives of the people of this synod and this metropolis. We went through Ground Zero together. We buried our dead and re-imagined the church in the wake of that tragedy," Bouman said. "We have planted so many new ministries among people who are 'the road not taken' by traditional Lutheranism."
"In some ways mission and ministry in the Metropolitan New York Synod has been 'going to school' on what mission and ministry are going to be like all across our country in the coming decades," Bouman said. "I've learned some things, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with the wider church," he said.
"We have a lot to learn from each other, and it will be my joy to advocate and agitate for the missional heart of this church as the director of EOCM. I look forward to getting on the road with my many new colleagues who will share with me the ministries to which God has called them," Bouman said.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, announced the council's unanimous election of Bouman here Nov. 13.
"Bishop Bouman has exemplified in his parish and synodical ministries leadership that is Christ centered, Spirit gifted, biblically engaged, theologically formed and contextually shaped," Hanson said in a prepared statement. "He has a passion to proclaim Christ, make disciples and build up the church for the sake of the world."
"Bishop Bouman developed a Diakonia program with over 800 graduates, some of whom are serving as pastors," Hanson said. "Under his leadership over 35 new ministries have been initiated. Worship occurs in over 25 languages in the synod," he said.
Hanson recalled that Bouman saw the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod through the challenges of dealing with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He listed other "hallmarks" of Bouman's leadership as bishop: "accompanying those who live in poverty, working together for a more just society, extending hospitality to the immigrant, striving to become a multicultural, diverse church while building upon our strong global and ecumenical partnerships."
Bouman will succeed the Rev. Richard A. Magnus, who will retire Dec. 31. EOCM is a program unit of the ELCA. Its 149- member staff facilitates "the efforts of congregations, synods, and related institutions and agencies in reaching out in witness to the gospel to people in all contexts and cultures" across the United States and Caribbean. It works to develop new congregations and ministries, and to renew and equip existing ELCA ministries in evangelical outreach.
Born April 14, 1947, in Melrose Park, Ill., Bouman is a graduate of Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He earned a master of sacred theology degree and a doctorate in ministry from New York Theological Seminary, New York. General Theological Seminary, New York, awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 2001.
Ordained in 1973 by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Bouman served as pastor of Christ and St. Jacobus Lutheran Church, Woodside, Queens, N.Y., and Atonement Lutheran Church, Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y. His pastoral call was transferred to the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) in 1977, and he served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Bogota, N.J., from 1982 to 1992. The AELC, American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in America formed the ELCA in 1988.
In 1992 Bouman became an assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod and in 1996 was elected to succeed the Rev. James E. Sudbrock as bishop. The synod elected Bouman to a second six-year term as bishop in 2002.
Bouman is author of several articles, curricula, devotionals and books, including "From the Parish for the Life of the World," published in 2000 by Augsburg Fortress, and "Grace All Around Us," published in 2007 by Augsburg Books. Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the ELCA.
Bouman and his wife Janet are the parents of three adult children. -- -- --
Information about Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission is at http://www.ELCA.org/eocm/ on the ELCA Web site.
The home page of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod is at http://www.mnys.org/ on the Web.
A related story on the retirement of the Rev. Richard A. Magnus is at http://www.ELCA.org/news/Releases.asp?a=3637 on the ELCA Web site.
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