Lutherans elect female presiding bishop

What started as just another church assembly turned into a historic one for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as members elected Elizabeth Eaton the denomination’s first female presiding bishop.

Eaton will take over from Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, who will step down after 12 years of overseeing the ELCA, which at more than 4 million members is one of the largest mainline denominations.

“I’m still in a state of shock,” Eaton said on August 15. “We wanted to open up a conversation and, as I said to the assembly, it looks like the conversation got out of hand.”