Interim Report of the Nominating Committee
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2019 Convocation of the North American Lutheran Church Interim Report of the Nominating Committee The 2019 Nominating Committee presents the candidates named below for positions to be elected at the August 8-9 Convocation in Indianapolis, Indiana. We believe that all the individuals named are qualified and would do well in their service if elected. Any delegate to the 2019 NALC Convocation may nominate additional candidates for bishop. Delegates are encouraged to submit such nominations as soon as possible to allow the nominees time to submit the required biographical information to the Nominating Committee. Additional nominations for executive council and court of adjudication must be submitted to the Nominating Committee by June 24. For more information, visit thenalc.org/nominate2019. Bishop Every four years the Convocation elects the bishop of the NALC for a four-year term. The 2019 candidates for bishop are as follows (name, current call and first congregation to nominate): • The Rev. Dr. Catherine Braasch, STS, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Jackson Center, Ohio; nominated by Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa • The Rev. B. A. “Tim” Christ, STS, Joy Lutheran Church, Richmond, Texas and dean of Southeast Texas Mission District; nominated by Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa • The Rev. Phillip Gagnon, STS, St. Albert Evangelical Lutheran Church, St. Albert, Alberta; nominated by Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa • The Rev. Dr. Jeffray S. Greene, Word of God Lutheran Church, Peachtree City, Georgia; nominated by Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa • The Rev. Marshall E. Hahn, Marion Lutheran Church and Norway Lutheran Church, St. Olaf, Iowa and dean of Iowa Mission District; nominated by Word of God Lutheran Church, Peachtree City, Florida • The Rev. Ronald Hoyum, Port Madison Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island, Washington; nominated by Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa 1 • The Rev. Melinda H. Jones, Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church, North Charleston, South Carolina; nominated by Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Troutman, North Carolina • The Rev. Kenneth C. Kimball, STS, Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waterville, Iowa and Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church, Waukon, Iowa; nominated by Hope Lutheran Church, Cedar Hill, Texas • The Rev. James T. Lehmann, STS, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Thomasboro, Illinois; nominated by St. Paul Lutheran Church, Rosenberg, Texas • The Rev. Dr. Eric M. Riesen, Trinity Lutheran Church, Ashland Ohio; nominated by All Saints Lutheran Church, Arlington, Texas • The Rev. Dan Selbo, St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church, San Jose, California; nominated by Emmanuel Lutheran Church, State College, Pennsylvania • The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel, NALC Assistant to Bishop for Ministry & Ecumenism, Jacksonville, Florida; nominated by Shepherd of the Woods, Jacksonville, Florida Executive Council Each year the Convocation elects one pastor and one layperson to the executive council for four-year terms. The 2019 clergy candidates are as follows (name, current congregation and first congregation to nominate): • The Rev. Bassam J. Abdallah, House of Prayer, Elizabethtown, Kentucky; nominated by Trinity Lutheran Church, Norwalk, Ohio • The Rev. Rebecca M. M. Heber, Oasis Church, St. Mary, Florida; nominated by Oasis Church, St. Mary, Florida • The Rev. Dr. Keith G. Less, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Abilene, Kansas; nominated by Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Abilene, Kansas • The Rev. K. Craig Moorman, River’s Edge Ministries, Mount Airy, Maryland/First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Gray Manor, Dundalk, Maryland; nominated by Hope Lutheran Church, Cedar Hill, Texas • The Rev. Carl L. M. Rasmussen, First Lutheran Church, Kirkland, Illinois; nominated by First Lutheran Church, Kirkland, Illinois The 2019 lay candidates are as follows (name, current congregation and first congregation to nominate): 2 • Ms. Rebecka V. Andrae, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Latrobe, Pennsylvania; nominated by St. Paul Lutheran Church, Latrobe, Pennsylvania • Ms. Rosemary Johnson, Hope Lutheran Church, Ladysmith, Wisconsin; nominated by Hope Lutheran Church, Ladysmith, Wisconsin • Mr. Scott Kramer, St. John Lutheran Church, Boerne, Texas; nominated by St. John Lutheran Church, Boerne, Texas Court of Adjudication This year two individuals, clergy or lay, will be elected to four-year terms on the Court of Adjudication. The 2019 candidates are as follows (name, current congregation and first congregation to nominate): • The Rev. Jennifer Gold, St. John Lutheran Church, Boerne, Texas; nominated by St. John Lutheran Church, Boerne, Texas • The Rev. Leslie Haines, STS, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Lake Township, Fort Wayne, Indiana; nominated by Immanuel Lutheran Church, Thomasboro, Illinois • The Rev. Marty Ramey, Grace Lutheran Church, Clemmons, North Carolina; nominated by Grace Lutheran Church, Clemmons, North Carolina • Mr. Allyn Ray Rub, St. James Lutheran Church, Llano, Texas; nominated by St. James Lutheran Church, Llano, Texas Respectfully submitted, The Rev. Wendy Berthelsen The Rev. Hugh W. Brewer Mr. Erik Osness The Rev. Richard Tomlinson Mr. Marc Voigt, Chair 3 Nominees for Bishop THE REV. DR. CATHERINE BRAASCH, STS Jackson Center, Ohio Current Call: Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church (Jackson Center, Ohio), Intentional Interim Pastor Congregational Membership: Trinity Lutheran Church (Gothenburg, Nebraska) Denominational Affiliation: NALC and LCMC Basic Biographical Information: Marital status: widowed in 2016 after nearly 50 years of marriage; one child, deceased in 2016; one God-daughter, age five Education: • Undergraduate studies in agricultural business management and animal science, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, honors at entrance • B.S.Ed. Journalism, American Studies (1974), summa cum laude, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Senior Paper: “Voluntary Censorship of US News Media During WW II” • M.A. Organizational Leadership, Gonzaga University (1993); awarded Ignatius of Loyola Magis Medal for exemplary integration of scholarship, leadership and service; research project: “Characteristics of Exemplary Pastoral Leadership in Mission Congregations” • M.Div. Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (2002); Thesis: “Confessional Witness to an Emerging World Religion (Mormon)” — a teaching thesis for preparing pastors to lead their congregations in confessional outreach and evangelism with their Mormon neighbors • D.Min. Applied Ministries, Graduate Theological Foundation (2012); focus: Spiritual Formation and Development, both adolescents and ministry leaders; fostering a culture of call in congregations Hobbies and other interests: Target shooting; reading; writing; collecting and making quilts; working with 4-H and National FFA Organization (Future Farmers of America) members on their livestock projects; judging FFA leadership contests and scholarship applications (local, state, national); developing a foundation to support National FFA Washington Leadership Conferences; volunteer service as firefighter/rescue squad 4 member; department chaplain; county hospital and county sheriff’s chaplain; pastoral support for Epiphany Prison Ministry. Describe how you experience God active in your daily life. The sign of God is that I’m continually being led where I haven’t planned to go, through doors that I’d never imagine opening, into endeavors that might not bear full fruit during my tenure or lifetime. If anyone would have suggested on the day of my Baptism (at age 18), that I’d be called to pastoral ministry, and maybe even to service as bishop, I’d have laughed out loud. I’m a convert to Christianity. Four generations of my forbearers were Mormons and that’s how I was raised. At age eight, though, I walked into a neighborhood Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) congregation’s vacation Bible school. There, I was introduced to the real Jesus, crucified for my sin, risen from the dead, and calling me to follow Him. His grace and mercy stuck like glue on my soul. Nine years later, an LCMS congregation near my college reached out after I checked, of all things, Lutheran as my religious preference at registration. Since that time, I’ve been formed in Christian faith and life by congregations that are serious about being and making disciples of Jesus Christ, 24/7/365. Daily remembrance of Baptism reminds me that I, a sinner, need the fullness of God — Father, +Son and Holy Spirit. My daily encounters are grounded in these disciplines: • Praying with Scripture following the daily prayer offices: Matins (Morning Prayer), Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Compline (Prayer at Close of Day); • Intercessory prayer for specific needs, concerns, joys and sorrows of our church body and seminary, friends, colleagues, parishioners, kin and even strangers I encounter in the course of the day; • Ongoing peer accountability based on our ordination vows, through the Society of the Holy Trinity (STS), an inter-Lutheran order of pastors from 11 Lutheran bodies in North America. The STS Rule guides and unites our lives through praying the daily offices, regular chapter and general retreats, and individual confession and absolution with a brother or sister as our confessors, and prayerful support of our fellow clergy; and • Daily reflection (the Examen) of where and how God has been present and/or silent during the day just passed. This discipline closes the loop of my daily discipleship and prepares me to begin anew after a good