2025 Bishop’s Election

Oregon Synod Bishop’s serve six-year terms. Part of the 2025 Synod Assembly will be to prayerfully discern who is called to serve as the bishop of the Oregon Synod for the next six years.

To maintain impartiality, the election process is designed and run by a Bishop’s Election Task Force led by Deacon Laura Gifford and a team of synod volunteers, rostered and lay. While the team coordinates with the current bishop’s office staff on logistics and communications, they are an independent decision-making body. The task force determines how nominating and voting will be conducted. A representative from the ELCA Churchwide Offices will be present at 2025 Assembly to prayerfully lead the Bishop’s election process and to ensure impartiality.

Who is eligible to stand for bishop?

ELCA rostered ministers of Word and Sacrament (pastors) in good standing in the ELCA.
- ELCA pastors from outside the Oregon Synod are eligible.
Note: the bishop’s office has traditionally been housed in Portland at Legacy Emanuel Hospital for geographic, logistical and financial reasons. For those reasons, it would be ideal that the incoming bishop would be able to reside in or expect to travel with frequency to the Portland area

Who can pre-identify a candidate for bishop?

Any member of an Oregon Synod congregation may submit a pastor’s name for pre-identification, but first they must seek permission from the pastor whose name they wish to submit.
A pastor may submit their own name for pre-identification.

Here is a preview of pre-identification form. The pastor being pre-identified must provide the answers, whether they are self-submitting, or another synod member is submitting on their behalf.

Notes on the pre-identification process:

The pastor must give permission to be pre-identified. The Bishop’s Election Team will also contact all pre-identified individuals who did not self-submit to verify their willingness to stand.
Biographical information about pre-identified candidates will be shared on the Oregon Synod Assembly webpage and with synod assembly voting members prior to the election.
Pre-identified candidates will be background-checked.

Pre-identification form

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a bishop do? The bishop’s duties are enumerated in the Oregon Synod Constitution (see section 8.12). Here is the bishop job description.
Who gets to vote at 2025 Assembly?
- Registered voting members to the 2025 Oregon Synod Assembly. Most congregations have two regular voting members. (Check your congregation in the synod’s 2025 guide to voting members.) Congregations may also send up to 2 additional voting members from each of the following groups:
  - People of color or whose
    primary language is not English.
  - LGBTQIA+
  - young adults (18-35)
  - youth (12-18)
- Pastors and deacons on the active roster may also vote.
- Limited registration is available for rostered ministers who are retired or on leave from call, with the proviso that the overall percentage of rostered voting members may not exceed 40 percent of the assembly; contact the synod office for details.
Is Bishop Laurie running for reelection? Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar has indicated her willingness for stand for re-election. Under the rules of the ecclesiastical ballot, she is a “pre-identified candidate” along with any others identified during the open-identification period from January 14-March 7.

Bishop's Election Voting Process

On the first day of the assembly, voting members will complete their first ballot for the election of the Oregon Synod bishop. Our synod uses an “ecclesiastical ballot” system. This means that the first ballot is blank, and voting members write in the name of any ELCA pastor in good standing they feel called to lift up for the office of the bishop. This may be one of the pre-identified candidates; it may be another pastor they feel prayerfully called to identify.
Following the first ballot, the Bishop’s Election Team will compile a list of results and share these results with the assembly. If a candidate receives 75 percent of the vote, that candidate is elected. At this time, nominees who do not wish to stand will have an opportunity to withdraw their names from consideration.
If needed, the second ballot will include all identified candidates who have not removed their names from consideration. Voting members of the assembly will choose their preferred candidate from among these names. If a candidate receives 75 percent of the vote, that candidate is elected.
If needed, the third ballot will include the 7 candidates (plus ties) who received the most votes in round two. If a candidate receives two-thirds (66.7 percent) of the vote, that candidate is elected.
If needed, the fourth ballot will include the 3 candidates (plus ties) who received the most votes in round three. If a candidate receives 60 percent of the vote, that candidate is elected.
Finally, if needed, the fifth ballot will include the 2 candidates (plus ties) who received the most votes in round four. The candidate who wins a simple majority of the votes is elected bishop.