Deborah Hutterer elected bishop of the ELCA Grand Canyon Synod

​CHICAGO – The Rev. Deborah K. Hutterer, Phoenix, was elected June 16 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election was held during the Synod Assembly June 14-16 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley, Ariz.

Hutterer was elected on the fifth ballot with 145 votes to 135 votes for the Rev. Peter Perry, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Glendale, Ariz.

The bishop-elect has served as chief development officer for Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest in Phoenix since 2012. She was executive director of Faith in the City in Minneapolis from 2008 to 2012 and served as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Pontiac, Ill., from 2004 to 2007.

Hutterer received a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Augsburg College in Minneapolis in 1999 and a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., in 2004. Augsburg is one of 27 ELCA colleges and universities and Luther is one of seven ELCA seminaries.

Hutterer will be installed Sept. 8 at Valley Lutheran Church in Phoenix.

The Rev. Lowell G. Almen has served as interim bishop since 2017.

Information about the ELCA Grand Canyon Synod is available at www.gcsynod.org/

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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 3.5 million members in 9,300 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.

For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
773-380-2877
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org