LCMS President/President-elect Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison has announced the five nominees who will stand for election as the Synod’s first vice-president at this summer’s LCMS convention.
The nominees, in alphabetical order, are:
- Rev. Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher II, chairman and professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions and director of the Pastoral Formation programs at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Rev. Dr. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. of Waterloo, Ill., who is currently serving his second term as LCMS first vice-president.
- Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray, senior pastor of Memorial Lutheran Church and School, Houston, who is currently serving his first term as LCMS fourth vice-president. Murray previously served (2010-13) as fifth vice-president.
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Mueller Rev. Dr. Daniel Preus of St. Louis, who is currently serving his first term as LCMS third vice-president. Preus served a previous term (2010-13) as fourth vice-president.
- Rev. Dr. John C. Wohlrabe Jr. of St. Francis, Wis., who is currently serving his second term as LCMS second vice-president. Wohlrabe is president of the Board of Governors for the Concordia Historical Institute, editor-in-chief of the Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly and an adjunct professor at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, and Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, Ill.
Harrison selected the candidates for first vice-president from a list of 20 ordained ministers who received the highest number of nominations from LCMS congregations and who agreed to serve if elected. Bylaws required Harrison to select two of the candidates from the top five of the 20 nominated.
“The Lord blessed our Synod with a superb group of vice-presidents this past triennium,” Harrison said. “In assembling the slate, I chose to include a number of their names for consideration.”
Election of the first vice-president and five regional vice-presidents will take place during the Synod’s 66th Regular Convention, July 9-14 in Milwaukee.
Nomination ballots for first vice-president were mailed to all congregations last fall. Each voting congregation was invited to nominate one or two rostered ordained ministers for the full-time position that is based at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis. The deadline for congregations to submit their ballots was Feb. 9.
An outside auditor tallied the ballots for president and first vice-president nominations.
The original 20 nominees and their biographical information can be found in the 2016 Biographical Synopses & Statements of Nominees (Pages 10-22). To download that publication, visit lcms.org/convention/downloads.
On June 15, LCMS Secretary Rev. Dr. Raymond Hartwig announced that district-convention delegates had elected Harrison to his third term as LCMS president. He received 3,507 votes, or 56.96 percent of the ballots cast.
Harrison, the first vice-president and other LCMS officers elected during the Synod convention will be installed in September.
To see the results of all convention elections, visit lcms.org/convention/election-results.
Posted July 6, 2016
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Didn’t VP Preus also serve a term as 1st VP from 2001-2004?
Rev. Dr. Raymond Hartwig
Is there a term limit on the job of President ?
If not, there should be. We lost out on a couple of excellent candidates for the job this year.
It is my philosophy that a person should not be in a critical job too long-three terms is too long for LCMS President. I would think that someone in this key position for a church, would self-limit himself, just like George Washington did as our first president.
George Menghi
Gethsemane Lutheran
Houston, Texas
Thank you for your question. According to the bylaws of the LCMS, there are no term limits for the office of the president.
We were Blessed to keep President Harrison a humble leader a forgiven man of God forgiven like you and me by the Death on the Cross of Jesus who took all our sins upon himself. We as a synod need to pray for President Harrison every day as he prays for the Synod each day.
I am no official in the LCMS but he has prayed for my Pastor and become a true friend thru many messages to him he always finds the time to answer them.
My God the Father Son and Holy Spirit continue to Bless Him