Melissa L. Stoller, Pittsburgh, was elected on June 13 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. The election took place during the synod assembly, June 12-14 at La Roche University in Pittsburgh.
Stoller was elected on the fourth ballot, with 189 votes. William Schaefer, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Latrobe, Pa., and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Derry, Pa., received 49 votes.
The bishop-elect has served as director for evangelical mission and assistant to the bishop for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod since 2017. Prior to this role, she served as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh (2011-2017); pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cook, Minn. (2005-2010); and intern pastor at the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy in Moscow, Russia (2003-2004). Previously she worked in housing and health care advocacy for the Minnesota Senior Federation.
