West Des Moines, Iowa (August 6, 2020) – Over 340 voting members of the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are gathering online, August 5th and 7th, for their annual Synod Assembly.
Voting members from congregations across the area are gathered under the theme “With a New Song.” The 2020 Synod Assembly will include several items of business for consideration, including the election of a bishop using the Ecclesiastical Ballot and the elections for synod vice president, synod council, and other synod committees. The assembly will also gather digitally for worship.
Rev. Michael Burk, who began his ministry as Bishop of the Southeastern Iowa Synod in 2008, is retiring. In the ELCA, bishops serve six-year terms. According to the Synod’s Constitution, the bishop will be elected by the Synod Assembly by ecclesiastical ballot.
Results of the First Ecclesiastical Ballot, in which each voting member was asked to submit the name of one person who is eligible to serve as synod bishop, are listed below. Three-fourths of the legal votes cast were necessary for election on the first ballot. This ballot becomes the nominating ballot. A second ballot will be taken on Friday, August 7th and as needed, subsequent votes will be taken throughout the day until a bishop-elect is chosen.
2020 Synod Assembly Ecclesiastical Ballot #1 Results
Results of the First Ecclesiastical Ballot, in which each voting member was asked to write in the name of one Minister of Word and Sacrament to serve as synod bishop, are:
| Names of entries on the Ballot |
| Uthe, Erika | 94 |
| Jones, Ken Sundet | 35 |
| Kuckuck, Dan | 18 |
| Lowe-Lancaster, Katie | 15 |
| Thompson, Jayne | 15 |
| Fisher-King, Travis | 12 |
| Thomas, Jennifer | 12 |
| Wartick, Beth | 11 |
| Carlson, Eric | 10 |
| Inbarasu, Inba | 9 |
| Bluml, Rodney | 6 |
| Householder, Mike | 6 |
| Olson, Timothy | 5 |
| Ostrem, Paul | 5 |
| Williams, Ritva | 5 |
| Marple, Jealaine | 4 |
| Current, Amy | 3 |
| Daharsh, Cathy | 3 |
| Knudsen, Steve | 3 |
| Lewis-LaPlante, Carrie | 3 |
| Parker, Lisa | 3 |
| Bernau, Bill | 2 |
| Lee, Kari | 2 |
| Miller, Duane | 2 |
| Smith, Tim | 2 |
| Spitzack, Connie | 2 |
| Yarnell, Katharine | 2 |
| Anderson-Larson, Ginger | 1 |
| Borgwardt, Jeffrey | 1 |
| Brown, Craig | 1 |
| Debner, Susan | 1 |
| Dykstra, Roger | 1 |
| Harrison, Neil | 1 |
| Hermanson, Andrew | 1 |
| Higgs, Julie | 1 |
| Howe, Libby | 1 |
| Johnson, Louise | 1 |
| Khabeb, Angela | 1 |
| Lackey, Russ | 1 |
| Marty, Peter | 1 |
| Mithelman, Jack | 1 |
| Mithelman, Rachel | 1 |
| Olson-Smith, Sara | 1 |
| Peck, Michael | 1 |
| Schlenker, Mark | 1 |
| Solomon, Dan | 1 |
| Underwood, Rodney | 1 |
| Urlaub, Mark | 1 |
| Webb, Richard | 1 |
