We have a new bishop!

This past weekend I got to be at the assembly that elected Rev. Steve Delzer as the new bishop of

the Southeastern Minnesota Synod, replacing Bishop Usgaard who has served for 12 years.  God’s hand led the whole process.

We have a weird way of electing a bishop!  There is no campaigning, no yard signs or buttons, no election committees or campaign coordinators.   People do not announce their candidacy at press conferences.  Pollsters do not test the waters to find the leading candidates.  Instead, people talk, pray, and seek God’s guidance.

Last winter churches raised up the names of potential nominees.  Here at Peace we nominated Rev. Linda Gunderson because we sensed a spirit of mission in her and thought she would make an awesome bishop.  Christ the King in Mankato nominated me.  Those names then went to the conference assemblies with each assembly passing along three names to be a part of some question and answer forums.  Neither Linda nor I had our names passed on.  While the snarky side of me felt quite annoyed that Linda’s name didn’t get passed along (and I suspect that synod-wide she would have been one of the top vote getters, but didn’t break the top three in any one conference), I had to trust that God works even in goofy processes.

Chad Ohl and I went to one of the forums held in Chatfield to hear these nominees speak.  Neither of us came away with a sense that one person seemed ‘destined’ for the position.  As I talked to others in the days leading up to the assembly I heard very conflicting thoughts.  Nobody had any sense of who would be elected.

The assembly spent significant time in prayer as we voted.  On the first ballot any pastor in the ELCA could be nominated, and over 50 people were (including Linda and me).  After some people took their names off the ballot we voted again, shrinking the field to seven (all from the bishop’s forums).  The next ballot took it down to four, with those four addressing the assembly.  As soon as Pastor Delzer finished speaking, the contingent from Peace turned to each other and commented, “There is your next bishop.”  Something in his words resonated with us.  A process that began without a clear leader ended emphatically with Pastor Delzer receiving nearly 65% of the final vote.  

God works in the process!  There is a lot of ‘if only’ conversation going on.  If only more people could have been a part of the forums.  If only someone had more clearly answered a question at a forum.  If only more people had worked behind the scenes to talk about ‘their candidate.’  If only one of the final four had done a ‘better job’ in their speech.  A lot of things couple have happened, but perhaps the Holy Spirit actually led the process…which is what we prayed for all along!

Starting this fall we will welcome Bishop Steve Delzer.  I worked closely with Steve and the South Sudanese ministry that is at Our Savior’s in Faribault.  He brings a love for the church and an openness to new ideas to the bishop’s office.  Please keep him in your prayers as he spends the summer assembling a staff and preparing for his new role.  God worked among us to raise him into this new place.  May God bless him as he does God’s work in leading the Southeastern Minnesota Synod.

Click here for more information on your new bishop!