Bishop elect Collins Assembly delegates Huff, Weber & Elkin The 29th annual Assembly of the Upper Susquehanna Synod took place at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, on June 18 & 19, 2016. The major business of the Assembly was the election of the third bishop of the Synod.

The process of election has five ballots. The first is a nominating ballot, which resulted in a long list of persons, many with only a few votes. Many of those petitioned to remove their names from the second ballot. After the second ballot, the top seven pastors went on to the third ballot, and the top three of that group went on to the fourth ballot. At that point the top two candidates - Rev. William S. Henderson of Christ's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lewisburg and Rev. Barbara Jeanne Collins, assistant to Bishop Driesen - were exactly tied. The final result was very close; if a half-dozen persons had voted differently, that would have been enough to change the outcome! But as it happened, Pastor BJ Collins was elected. Her six-year term begins in September.

Ordination of two new pastors Rev. Robert L. Driesen, current bishop of the Upper Susquehanna Synod, has served as bishop since 2007, and will retire Aug. 31.

Bishop Driesen The assembly approved a deficit budget. Revenue has been steadily dropping in recent years, and has not met budgeted figures for several years. Programs have been reduced but the proposed budget was felt to contain the minimum necessary expenditure, but without sufficient support pledged by congregations, a deficit budget was the only way to meet expenses. The interim treasurer pleaded for additional support, otherwise, expenses would have to be met from Synod savings.

As has been the case in the past, the Assembly was asked to vote on "memorials" to the ELCA, on issues that have both moral and political implications. This year, the Assembly approved memorials supporting "peacemaking with justice in Israel and Palestine" and "ending gun violence" by controlling the sale of "military-style assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines."

The other usual business of the synod was also handled: there were two ordinations, pastors who had died were remembered, 25 to 55 year anniversaries of service of pastors were celebrated, reports from all of the synod-related entities were received, Holy Communion was celebrated, and more.

Your delelgates also attended seminars offered daily during the lunch hour, on a variety of topics. the information is useful to improve programming at St. Mark's.