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Erik Christensen, Chicago, Ill., was elected June 6 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA. The election took place during the synod assembly, June 5-6 at the Q Center in St. Charles, Ill.
Christensen was elected on the fifth ballot, with 234 votes. Heidi Torgerson, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, Ill., received 160 votes. A total of 198 votes was needed for election.
The bishop-elect was ordained extra ordinem—outside official church policy–in 2006 and received onto the ELCA roster in 2010 after the church decided in 2009 to allow partnered LGBTQ+ ministers onto the roster. He has served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Evanston since 2024. From 2017 to 2024, he served as pastor to the community and director of strategic initiatives at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, one of seven ELCA seminaries. Christensen also served as pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church of Logan Square in Chicago from 2006 to 2017.
Christensen will be installed on Sept. 19. The location has not yet been determined.
Wayne Miller has served as interim synod bishop since 2025.
