Bishop Elizabeth Eaton to give Spring Convocation lecture Feb. 2
DECORAH, Iowa—To launch Luther College’s commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Elizabeth Eaton will give the Spring Convocation lecture 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2.
Convocation, held in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall, is open to the public with no charge for admission.
In her address, Bishop Eaton will share reflections on the church’s ongoing call to reformation and the role of Lutheran higher education in the call to service for the sake of the world. At gatherings, Eaton often highlights her four emphases for the ELCA: We are the church; We are Lutheran; We are church together; We are church for the sake of the world.
Eaton was elected as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s fourth presiding bishop at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2013. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education from the College of Wooster and a Master of Divinity from the Harvard Divinity School. After being ordained in 1981, Eaton served as assistant pastor, interim pastor and pastor in three Ohio congregations before being elected bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod in 2006 and re-elected in 2013.
As part of her visit to the college, Bishop Eaton will also participate in a rite of blessing for a tree recently planted on campus as part of the Luthergarten project. The blessing will take place at 11 a.m. directly after the convocation, weather permitting. A group will walk together to the site of the tree following the address.
A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,150, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.