Canadian Lutherans elect woman bishop

Christian Century, July 31, 2002

Canadian Lutherans have elected their first woman to serve as bishop. Cynthia G. Halmarson, 47, will head the Saskatchewan Synod for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Halmarson was born and raised in Connecticut and moved to Canada after her marriage in 1978.

Ordained in 1982, Halmarson served until 1994 at two congregations in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She became a Canadian citizen in 2001. For the past six years, she served in Winnipeg as assistant to the Canadian church's national bishop, Raymond Schultz. She will be installed in September.

In the U.S., seven women currently serve as bishops in the ELCA, which first ordained women as clergy in 1970. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod does not ordain women to serve as congregational pastors. Around the world, 22 women have been elected bishops or presidents in churches that belong to the Lutheran World Federation. -RNS