Sierra Pacific Synod

Sierra Pacific Synod
Location
Country	United States
Territory	northern and central California, northern Nevada
Headquarters	Oakland, California
Statistics
Congregations	182[1]
Members	43,068 (baptized, 2014)[1]
Information
Denomination	Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Established	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Current leadership
Bishop	Jeff R. Johnson
Map
Website
www.spselca.org

The Sierra Pacific Synod is one of the 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It covers central and northern California and northern Nevada and supports ELCA congregations throughout that region. It was headed by Bishop Megan Rohrer who resigned on June 6, 2022.[2] As of 2023, it is led by Bishop Jeff R. Johnson.

It is subdivided into nine conferences, each headed by a dean.[3][4]

1. Redwood Mountain covering the northernmost part of the synod
2. Bridges covering the north and northeastern parts of the San Francisco Bay area
3. Capitol Valley covers congregations around the California state capital, Sacramento
4. Sierra Nevada Foothill covers congregations in the Sierra Nevada mountains and also Nevada.
5. San Francisco Peninsula covers congregations from San Francisco to Mountain View
6. El Camino Real covers congregations from Sunnyvale south along the coast.
7. Mt. Diablo covers the south and interior parts of the east side of the San Francisco Bay area.
8. Sierra Central Valley covers the California Central Valley south of Sacramento but north of Fresno.
9. Central San Joaquin Valley covers the Fresno area

The synod, like many ELCA synods, is a companion of a non-US Lutheran church. Sierra Pacific's companions are the Taiwan Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church of Rwanda, and the Salvadoran Lutheran Church.[5]

Bishops current and former:

• Robert W. Mattheis (1994–2002), resigned due to illness[6]
• David G. Mullen (2002–2008)[7][6]
• Mark W. Holmerud (2008–2021)
• Megan Rohrer (2021–2022)
• Interim Bishop Claire S. Burkat (2022-2023)</ref>Church, Faith Lutheran. "Rev. Claire S. Burkat Appointed as Interim Bishop". Faith Lutheran Church. Retrieved 2023-01-09.</ref>[8]
• Jeff R. Johnson (2023-)

Well known churches in the synod include St. Francis Lutheran Church and First United Lutheran Church. Both were suspended from the denomination in 1990 and then expelled in 1995 for ordaining gay and lesbian pastors. After the ELCA changed its rules on ordaining gay and lesbian pastors in 2009, they rejoined in 2011 and 2012 respectively.[9][10]

University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley was also reprimanded for calling a gay pastor, Jeff R. Johnson, in 1999. On September 17, 2023, Jeff R. Johnson was elected as the first openly gay bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod.[11]

Sierra Pacific Synod supported 2024 California Proposition 3 - which amended the California Constitution to recognize a fundamental right to marry, regardless of sex or race and removed language in California Constitution stating that marriage is only between a man and a woman. It passed.[12] [13]

References

1. "Your Synod at a Glance: Sierra Pacific" (PDF). ELCA. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
2. Bowman, Emma (May 10, 2021). "Megan Rohrer Elected as 1st Openly Transgender Bishop in U.S. Lutheran Church". Retrieved July 13, 2021.
3. "Map of congregations by conference". Sierra Pacific Synod. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
4. Synod, Sierra Pacific. "Our Conferences - Sierra Pacific Synod". Sierra Pacific Synod. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
5. "Companion Synod Relationships by Synod" (PDF). ELCA. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
6. "David Mullen Elected Bishop of ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod". 29 April 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
7. "Mark Holmerud Elected Bishop of ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod". ELCA. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
8. "ELCA People Search". search.elca.org. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
9. Berton, Justin (12 February 2011). "2 S.F. Lutheran churches win fight for gay pastors". SFGate. SFGate. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
10. Koskey, Andrea (18 July 2012). "San Francisco church rejoins Lutherans years after inclusion of gay pastor - by - The San Francisco Examiner". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
11. Gryboski, Michael (September 25, 2023). "ELCA synod elects its first openly gay bishop". www.christianpost.com.
12. https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/11/california-election-result-same-sex-marriage/
13. https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/3/index.htm