Many seemed to have assumed that the now former-presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, would be re-elected, and indeed, he did have a sizeable lead after the first ballot. He had over 400 votes while his nearest competitor was in the low double digits.
Something happened on the second ballot, however. Hanson lost 70 votes, while Montana Bishop, Jessica Crist, jumped to well over 200. From there, Hanson's vote total declined through the final three ballots. Meanwhile, Jessica Crist faded, and Elizabeth Eaton jumped to the lead and won of the 5th ballot.
Obviously, some kind of campaign was being waged. You don't gain 200 votes in one ballot unless someone is singing your praises to someone.
Hanson was going for his third six-year term. In secular politics, that third term is often one of the toughest to win. (If you don't get them then, you're probably not going to.)
Some of the assembly voting members seemed to feel that two terms was enough. If he had won a third term, Hanson would have been presiding bishop for 18 years, well over half of the age of the ELCA itself.
I watched the speeches this morning, and the thought occurred to me that, if I were a voting member, I would vote for Eaton. She makes a nice appearance. She was articulate. Her responses did not rely on easy pieties, but actually had some depth.
Good luck and best wishes to the new leader of our denomination.
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