News Release ...The following news release can be downloaded as a Microsoft Word document by clicking here.
Pastor Rinehart, 46, has been serving at Grace in Conroe since 1997. He and his wife Susan have two young children. Before 1997 Bishop-elect Rinehart served as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, IA. He is a graduate of Valparaiso University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH. During his time at Grace in Conroe, he has served as the Mission Interpreter Coordinator of the synod, on the Youth and Family Ministry Team, and as the dean of the Piney Woods Ministerium.
The runner-up in the election was the Rev. Mike Button, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Brenham, TX. The final vote in the fifth ballot was 219 for Pastor Rinehart and 117 for Pastor Button.
Pastor Rinehart will be installed as bishop of the synod on September 29th.
The Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod is one of 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It covers the area of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana and includes 130 congregations and 48,000 members.
For more information on the synod assembly, the bishop election, and the ministry of the TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod, go to www.gulfcoastsynod.org.
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The
Rev. Mike Rinehart, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX, was
elected to be the new bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at this year’s synod
assembly. He will succeed Bishop Paul Blom, who has served as the bishop
of the synod for the past sixteen years and is retiring in August.