Presiding Lutheran bishop to preach

Staff report

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Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will preach at a joint worship service of Hope Lutheran Parish at 10 a.m. Oct. 9 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 140 Cherry Ave. N.W.

ELCA is comprised of nearly 10,500 congregations in America with some 4.6 million members.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeastern Ohio Synod will preside at communion. She leads the synod with 189 congregations in Northeastern Ohio, which is among 65 synods in the ELCA.

Hope Lutheran Parish was chosen to host Bishop Hanson because of its unusual work in forming a parish.

Four congregations — Messiah Lutheran Church in Newton Falls, Trinity Lutheran Church in Niles, Emmanuel Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church — share a pastoral staff and support one another’s ministries, while maintaining their worship sites. While two-point parishes are becoming more common within the ELCA, it is unusual to involve this number of congregations and to share multiple pastors.

The congregations of Hope Lutheran Parish share a common purpose and mission statement and are resolute about supporting each other’s ministries.

Members of all four congregations will assist with worship on Oct. 9. The pastoral staff consists of Pastors Dee Emmert, David Conrad, Beth Ferne Johnson and Steven Ritter.

A harvest dinner in honor of the bishops will follow the worship service. For more information, call 330-392-5939.

Bishop Hanson has served as presiding bishop of the ELCA since 2001. He was elected to a second six-year term in 2007. From 2003 until 2010, he was president of The Lutheran World Federation.

The presiding bishop chairs the biennial Churchwide Assembly and provides for the preparation of agendas for the assembly, the Church Council and its executive committee, the Conference of Bishops, and the Cabinet of Executives.

The presiding bishop is also the chief ecumenical officer of this church, and provides leadership and care for the bishops of the synods.

Bishop Eaton was elected bishop of the NEOS of the ELCA with her six-year term beginning in February of 2007. She was ordained in 1981 and began her ministry as pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Worthington. She served as interim pastor at Good Hope Lutheran Church in Youngstown from 1990-91. In 1991, she accepted a call to become pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Ashtabula, where she served until her election as bishop. Bishop Eaton’s husband, the Rev. Conrad Selnick, is an Episcopal priest.