Deborah Hutterer elected sixth bishop
The Rev. Deborah Hutterer was elected the sixth bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at the synod’s 31st annual assembly.
She will assume the office on September 1 and will be installed on September 8 at 10 a.m. The service will take place at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona. All are welcome.
Bishop-Elect Hutterer, 63, currently is the chief development officer for Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.
She was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament on August 18, 2004, following her graduation with a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Augsburg University in Minneapolis in 1999.
Before being called to service in Arizona, she served as transformational ministry pastor in St. Paul Lutheran Church in Pontiac, Ill., executive director of Faith in the City in Minneapolis, and parish life coordinator in Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Baldwin, Wis.
She is a member of Desert Cross Lutheran Church in Tempe, Ariz.
Bishop-Elect Hutterer was elected on the fifth ballot with 145 votes. On that ballot, the Rev. Dr. Peter Perry, pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Glendale, Ariz., received 135 votes.
On the nominating ballot, 48 names were submitted. Emerging from the second ballot for further consideration, in addition to Bishop-Elect Hutterer and Dr. Perry were: the Rev. Leland Armbright, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Preachtree Corners, Ga.; the Rev. Karn Carroll, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Phoenix; the Rev. Miguel Gomez-Acosta, synod director for evangelical mission, Phoenix; the Rev. Jeffrey Kallevig, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Tucson, Ariz.; and the Rev. Mark Perry, Sierra Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sierra Vista, Ariz.
The assembly was held at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley, Ariz.
The ELCA’s Grand Canyon Synod covers all of the state of Arizona, southern Nevada, and includes St. George in Utah. The synod’s 89 congregations include 44,000 members.