Rev. Mark Schroeder to head WELS
Wednesday, August 1, 2007 12:32 PM CDT
NEW ULM, Minn. - Rev. Mark Schroeder, 53, has accepted the call to be the next president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States.
Schroeder was elected Tuesday after four ballots and asked the convention to give him overnight to consider the call. The runner up was Rev. Paul Janke, 51, of Modesto, Calif.
Schroeder succeeds Rev. Karl Gurgel, 65, of Lake Mills, Wis. who is stepping down after 14 years in office.
Schroeder currently serves as president of Luther Preparatory School in Watertown, Wis. He has previously served as a pastor at congregations in Fond du Lac, Wis., and Maitland, Fla.
Schroeder addressed the delegates at the WELS' 59th Biennial Convention at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, Minn. today. Speaking about the tasks ahead of him in the new position, he expressed the strength he gained from the book of Isaiah: “Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in him and not be afraid.” “I will strive with the help of God to be faithful to the calling you have given me, and faithful to God's Word.”
Doctrinally conservative, WELS is headquartered in Milwaukee and has more than 1,200 congregations and pastors nationwide. The synod conducts mission outreach or assists in worker training in 23 countries on five continents. The only two larger Lutheran church bodies are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
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