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| Herb Chilstrom paved the road to Hell with his good intentions. |
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| Bishop Deborah Hutterer has four years parish experience - why not be a seminary president? Half of the ELCA bishops are women. |
The Rev. Dr. Herbert W. Chilstrom, 88, first presiding bishop of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), died Jan. 19, at his home in Green Valley, Arizona. Services of Holy Communion will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at Desert Hills Lutheran Church, 2150 S. Camino del Sol, Green Valley, Arizona. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will bring a greeting, Bishop Deborah Hutterer will preach and Pastor Martin Overson will preside. Reception to follow. Second service will also be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at Christ Chapel Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota. ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will preside and bring a greeting, Presiding Bishop Emeritus Mark Hanson will preach, Bishop Jon Anderson will bring a greeting and Chaplain Siri Erickson will host. Reception to follow. For each service, clergy and rostered leaders of the ELCA, together with clergy of the ELCA’s ecumenical partners, are invited to robe and process and are asked to RSVP (to jhoward@dhlc.org for Desert Hills and to https://forms.gle/ZB162Zyf99ETnKg5A for Christ Chapel). The vestments color of the day will be green.
The Rev. Dr. Herbert W. Chilstrom was born Oct. 18, 1931, in Litchfield, Minnesota. Chilstrom completed academic degrees at Augsburg University, Augustana Seminary, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Princeton Seminary and New York University, where he earned a doctorate in education degree.
He served Lutheran congregations in Pelican Rapids, Elizabeth and St. Peter. He was professor and dean at Luther College, Teaneck, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1970. In 1976, he was elected bishop of Minnesota Synod of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). At the 1987 merger that created the 5.2 million member ELCA, he was elected first presiding bishop.
