Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop Elect of ELCA!

[Melanchthon]

After having seen far too many of our terrific Lutheran female pastors, in spite of leading exemplary and dedicated Christian lives, relegated off to the leaky roof circuit of rural churches, and watching with sadness those in other faith groups calling themselves Christians deny women the opportunity to stand in the pulpit and proclaim their faith, the news of the surprise election of the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton of Cleveland, Ohio, to be the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a historic landmark to celebrate.

I'll admit to having been very jealous of my friends in the Episcopal Church since 2006 when Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected the first female Presiding Bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church in the United States and also the first female primate in the Anglican Communion. Prior to seeing the new on the internet tonight I had simply assumed Mark Hanson would be re-elected for another six year term.

 

[BeautifulFeet12]

Bp Eaton is my synodical bishop who happens to be a phenomenal leader, pastor and visionary. I've had the pleasure of meeting her on a few occasions and can say she is the most authentic witness to the gospel I have ever met, with an inspiring articulation of our theology. Her messages are hauntingly spot-on relevant, she is incredibly resourceful (a necessity particularly in our synod of significant population decline) and maintains a tremendous sense of wit and humor.

I was receiving Facebook updates on the CWA ballots and at the first ballot I thought would be a clear re-election of Hanson - who, by the way, I have nothing but utmost respect for, as well. By the second round, I was thinking Crist might be a contender; this could be good. On the third ballot, I thought, crap, we're loosing our bishop; she must have presented her candidate's responses. Eaton will be sorely missed in Northeastern Ohio, but her gifts are clearly needed at the churchwide level. And, by the way, this was certainly not a case of "let's elect a woman for the sake of a feminist movement". She is truly called by God to do this work, and as soon as she began to speak, it was evident that the CWA realized that.

Huffington Post did a Skype interview with her last week, and it was great! I can't post a link to it here due to my low post count, but be sure to Google it. She expressed the most beautiful passive-aggressive evangelism I have ever heard with the interviewer!

Just as we saw the movement of the Spirit in Pittsburg whip faster than a Cleveland Brown's loosing streak (sorry, couldn't resist - GO STILLERS!), I am certain that we can expect a lot of prayerful discernment and action at our CW level. Prayers for her strength and peace in Christ as she begins this new call.

 

[BeautifulFeet12]

BTW, I definitely wasn't poking fun at your Episc. envy - I get where you're coming from.

My moment of aggravation in my response is in rebuttal to the loads of comments I'm tired of hearing from the "internet population" at large who seem to think the election was skewed or who wish to imply that Hanson was "ousted".

 

[doulos_tou_kuriou]

If I may be honest I am beyond thrilled about Eaton. I never really cared about her being a woman, rather I cared simply that she presented concerns I share and a boldly evangelical (I mean that word in its proper sense) theology. Once I heard her speak at the assembly (I admittedly had never heard of her before) I was overwhelmingly in her corner through the rest of the call process.

I am one of those who felt we needed a different PB. I really felt Hanson did not know how to handle the delicate situation our church was in, hard to say if anyone could've handled it well, it was a tough place. But he alienated a lot of people and really in my view stood as the image for many of something greater than himself that just wasn't positive. He was very polarizing between those who really liked him and those who didn't. And I did not want him as our presiding bishop, and that's probably harsher than I should be, I certainly did not pray enough for him. I hope he finds rest for himself and his family following the end of his tenure.

 

[BeautifulFeet12]

So, will I see you in Chicago next month at the installation?
Anyone else going?

 

[MrLuther]

snip

.

On the other hand we do want, and want very much, to make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably, of course, as a means of their own advancement, but, failing that, as a means to do anything — even to social justice. The thing to do is to get a man at first to value social justice as a thing which the Enemy demands, and then work him on to the stage at which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. For the Enemy will not be used as a convenience

 

[Basil the Great]

I saw her interviewed on television soon after she was elected, probably on CNN.