Western Iowa Synod convenes in Sioux City
Posted: Friday, April 20, 2007
More than 500 voting members and guests of the Western Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will meet in synod assembly today through Sunday at the Sioux City Convention Center.
More than 500 voting members and guests of the Western Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will meet in synod assembly today through Sunday at the Sioux City Convention Center.
Special guests will include the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA; Bishop Alan Scarfe of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa; Dr. James Echols, president of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and Dr. Duane Larson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Hanson will deliver the sermon during the opening worship service at 5:30 p.m. today. Scarfe will lead Bible study at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Western Iowa Synod Assembly also will welcome visitors from the Southern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, the Rev. Isaya Mengele, assistant to the bishop; his wife, Helima, and the Rev. Gabriel Nduye.
The Southern Diocese shares a special relationship as a companion synod with the Western Iowa Synod. The three guests from the Southern Diocese will be visiting throughout the Western Iowa Synod through the month of May.
This year's synod assembly will elect a bishop to serve a six-year term. Bishop Michael Last is eligible to serve a second six-year term.
Hanson was elected presiding bishop of the ELCA in August 2001, just shortly after being elected to serve a second term as bishop of the St. Paul (Minn.) Area Synod.
A native of Minneapolis, Hanson is a graduate of Augsburg College and received a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1972. He also attended Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School in 1979. He served as pastor of three Minnesota congregations before being elected bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod.
A native of Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Scarfe was elected the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Iowa at a special diocesan convention in November 2002. He was ordained In Des Moines April 5, 2003, and seated at St. Paul’s Cathedral the following day.
Prior to his election as bishop, Scarfe served as rector of St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He earned a master of arts in theology degree from Oxford University in England in 1972. From 1973 through 1975, he completed postgraduate studies at the Romanian Orthodox Institute in Bucharest, Romania. He is a 1986 graduate of the General Theological Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood in 1986.
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More than 500 voting members and guests of the Western Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will meet in synod assembly today through Sunday at the Sioux City Convention Center.
Special guests will include the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA; Bishop Alan Scarfe of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa; Dr. James Echols, president of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and Dr. Duane Larson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Hanson will deliver the sermon during the opening worship service at 5:30 p.m. today. Scarfe will lead Bible study at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Western Iowa Synod Assembly also will welcome visitors from the Southern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, the Rev. Isaya Mengele, assistant to the bishop; his wife, Helima, and the Rev. Gabriel Nduye.
The Southern Diocese shares a special relationship as a companion synod with the Western Iowa Synod. The three guests from the Southern Diocese will be visiting throughout the Western Iowa Synod through the month of May.
This year's synod assembly will elect a bishop to serve a six-year term. Bishop Michael Last is eligible to serve a second six-year term.
Hanson was elected presiding bishop of the ELCA in August 2001, just shortly after being elected to serve a second term as bishop of the St. Paul (Minn.) Area Synod.
A native of Minneapolis, Hanson is a graduate of Augsburg College and received a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1972. He also attended Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School in 1979. He served as pastor of three Minnesota congregations before being elected bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod.
A native of Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Scarfe was elected the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Iowa at a special diocesan convention in November 2002. He was ordained In Des Moines April 5, 2003, and seated at St. Paul’s Cathedral the following day.
Prior to his election as bishop, Scarfe served as rector of St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. He earned a master of arts in theology degree from Oxford University in England in 1972. From 1973 through 1975, he completed postgraduate studies at the Romanian Orthodox Institute in Bucharest, Romania. He is a 1986 graduate of the General Theological Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood in 1986.
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