In historic votes, Lutherans elect two African American women bishops
Patricia A. Davenport and Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld will each lead a regional body in the predominantly white mainline Protestant denomination.
Patricia A. Davenport speaking after being elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod on May 5, 2018. Photo via SEPAsynod video.
A synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America made history May 5 by electing Patricia A. Davenport as the denomination’s first female African American bishop. The next day, a synod 900 miles away elected the second, Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld.
Delegates chose Davenport for the office of bishop in southeastern Pennsylvania. In the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, delegates voted for Thomas-Breitfeld to become bishop.
The votes mark an inclusive step forward for the “most white” of the nation’s mainline Protestant denominations, according to Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton.
