The names of nominees for Synod president and first vice president who will be on the ballots for election at this summer’s LCMS convention have been announ
Synod Secretary Raymond Hartwig released the names March 27, and indicated that the ballot is not yet complete for second through fifth vice president.
The names on the ballots -– five each for president and first vice president — are of those who received the most nominations from Synod congregations, and who agreed to stand for election. All must be ordained ministers.
For Synod president, the nominees are, in the order of nominations received:
- Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, 64, incumbent president of the Synod, 1,055
- Dr. John C. Wohlrabe Jr., 53, an LCMS military chaplain in the United States Navy based at Virginia Beach, Va., 607;
- Dr. Wallace R. Schulz, 62, of Augusta, Mo., evangelist with the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, 526;
- Dr. William R. Diekelman, 60, incumbent first vice president of the Synod, 315; and
- Rev. Daniel Preus, 58, of St. Louis, director of the Luther Academy, 14
On the ballot for first vice president are the following, also in the order of nominations received:
- Dr. William R. Diekelman, 909;
- Dr. Wallace R. Schulz, 540;
- Dr. John C. Wohlrabe Jr., 480;
- Rev. Charles S. Mueller Jr., 50, senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Roselle, Ill., 234; and
- Rev. Daniel Preus, 189.
Each Synod congregation could nominate two ordained ministers for president and two for first vice president.
Following a process adopted by the 2001 LCMS convention, each Synod congregation is eligible to nominate up to four men for second through fifth vice president, resulting in a slate of 20 nominees. Previously, those nominees were chosen at the convention.
Hartwig declined to say whether anyone other than those announced received enough votes to be on the ballot, but decided not to let his name stand.
When he announced the slates for president and first vice president, Hartwig said that his office was still contacting nominees for second
Nominations closed March 14. The nominating ballots were tallied by the St. Louis office of the accounting firm Brown Smith Wallace LLC.
The Synod’s 63rd Regular Convention is set for July 14-19 in Houston. At the convention, additional nominations from the floor could be added to the ballots for president, first vice president, and second through fifth vice president.
More information on nominees for election at the convention — including those for president and vice presidents — will be available in a biographical supplement to the 2007 Convention Workbook, scheduled for mailing in April.
Posted March 27, 2006
