ELCA Archives < St. Mark Lutheran Church https://www.stmarklacey.org/tag/elca/ A Place of Grace Sun, 05 Oct 2025 05:40:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.stmarklacey.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/cropped-LogoBrightGreen-100x100.jpg ELCA Archives < St. Mark Lutheran Church https://www.stmarklacey.org/tag/elca/ 32 32 New Southwestern Washington Synod Bishop Elected! https://www.stmarklacey.org/2025/08/new-southwestern-washington-synod-bishop-elected/ Tue, 12 Aug 2025 06:32:36 +0000 https://www.stmarklacey.org/?p=28993 We welcome our new Southwestern Washington Synod Bishop Keith Marshall!  He was elected to serve a 6 year term during our Synod Assembly on June 13-14 at the Olson Auditorium at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. Siblings in Christ of the Southwestern Washington Synod, Grace and peace to you all! As I officially begin serving…

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]]> We welcome our new Southwestern Washington Synod Bishop Keith Marshall!  He was elected to serve a 6 year term during our Synod Assembly on June 13-14 at the Olson Auditorium at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

Siblings in Christ of the Southwestern Washington Synod,

Grace and peace to you all! As I officially begin serving you as your bishop today, I want to offer my greetings, introduce myself, and share a bit about what you can expect in the months ahead.

For the past ten years I had been serving as pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Enumclaw. My wife, Elisha, and I have been married for the past 18 years. She does remarkable work, serving the most vulnerable in our community as the Executive Director at Plateau Outreach Ministries. Together, we are raising two wonderful boys: Jeremiah (16) and Zachariah (9). Between high school choir concerts, Little League baseball games, and chasing around our almost one-year-old Golden Doodle, Chewie, we are a busy family!

Since Synod Assembly, life has been a whirlwind of change, marked by farewells, joys, grief, and excitement. Throughout this journey, I have been sustained by Christ and by the prayers from many of you on behalf of myself, my family, Hope Lutheran, and our entire Synod. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming support and encouragement you have shown me over the past month and a half!

Over the coming months, one of my top priorities will be connecting with as many people in the synod as possible. That, of course, means visiting congregations on Sunday mornings to preach! I am excited to see the many churches in our synod and meet the people in our faith communities. Additionally, if you have a special congregational event that you would like me to attend, please let me know. If my schedule permits, I would love to be there!

As I go around our synod, I hope to do much more listening than talking. I want to hear your stories, your insights, your hopes, your concerns, your wisdom, and your passion for ministry here in the Southwestern Washington Synod. You are the ones already faithfully rooted in your corners of our synod, and I’m eager to learn from you! As we begin a

visioning and strategic planning process for the SWWA Synod, listening to you will help synod staff, synod council, and myself discern where God is leading us together.

As I said during the Synod Assembly, it is the honor of my life to be called to serve as the Bishop of the Southwestern Washington Synod. My heart and passion for ministry have always centered on ensuring people know they are seen, heard, and deeply loved by God and by the church. I have lived out that calling through outdoor ministry, youth ministry, pastoral ministry, and now, I pray, in this new role as your bishop. I will diligently and faithfully live out this call, serving you with patience, prayer. vision, and hope. I am filled with excitement for the future of the SWWA Synod and for the ways in which God is already at work in us, through us, and with us!

In Christ,

Bishop Keith Marshall

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]]> ELCA Elects a New Presiding Bishop https://www.stmarklacey.org/2025/08/elca-elects-a-new-presiding-bishop/ Tue, 12 Aug 2025 06:04:34 +0000 https://www.stmarklacey.org/?p=28990 The Rev. Yehiel Curry was elected July 30 to serve a six-year term as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly being held July 28–Aug. 2 at the Phoenix (Ariz.) Convention Center. Curry was elected on the fifth ballot. There were 799…

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]]> The Rev. Yehiel Curry was elected July 30 to serve a six-year term as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly being held July 28–Aug. 2 at the Phoenix (Ariz.) Convention Center.

Curry was elected on the fifth ballot. There were 799 votes cast, with 400 votes needed for an election. Curry received 562 votes, and the Rev. Kevin Strickland, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Synod, received 237 votes. Curry is the first Black presiding bishop of the ELCA.

Speaking to the assembly after his election, Curry reflected on his membership at Shekinah Chapel in Riverdale, Ill., where he eventually became a lay mission developer while he participated in the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries program, which prepares individuals for ordained ministry in the ELCA, with a focus on emerging ministry contexts like ethnic-specific, multicultural, rural and inner-city settings. He spoke to the assembly about his initial hesitation in accepting that first ministry role.

“Perhaps I’m out there in one of you,” Curry said. “I never saw myself as good enough, so for two years, I said no. I finally said yes. When I said yes, your support, this church’s support, of that ministry meant everything. So if you want to know what your benevolence dollars look like, it looks like me, and I want to say thank you. Thank you for your investment.”

Curry has served as bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod since 2019. He previously served as mission developer (2009-2012) and pastor (2012-2019) of Shekinah.

He received a Bachelor of Arts from Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill., in 1995 and a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) in 2013. LSTC is one of seven ELCA seminaries.

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