NEWSMAX: The nation’s largest Lutheran group elected its first woman as presiding bishop on Wednesday.
The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton was chosen as head of the liberal-leaning Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during its national legislative meeting in Pittsburgh. Eaton won on the fifth ballot with 600 votes, defeating the incumbent, the Rev. Mark Hanson, who is finishing his second six-year term. Hanson received 287 votes.
Eaton, a bishop from the northeastern Ohio district, is taking over leadership of the more than 4 million-member denomination at a time of major transition. In 2009, the denomination cleared the way for openly gay and lesbian ordination, causing losses in a church that, like some Protestant groups, had already been losing members for years. The Chicago-based denomination has trimmed jobs and restructured while redirecting resources into evangelization, especially to Latinos and other groups… (more)
