The election for the South Dakota Synod Bishop will be held at the 2019 Synod Assembly. Bishop David Zellmer has served two terms and by the South Dakota Synod Constitution Bylaws (S8.51.10) is ineligible for a third term. When Bishop Zellmer was first elected, there was no requirement for a Synod Study. At his reelection in 2013, there was not requirement for a study if there was an incumbent Bishop. Churchwide ELCA now requires a synod study for every election and this is incorporated into the South Dakota Synod Constitution as S9.04.A18 , which states “the Synod Council shall arrange for a synod study to be completed by the Synod Council meeting the fall prior to the beginning of the election process. The synod study shall be distributed to rostered minsters and congregations of the synod six months prior to the election providing guidance throughout this synod as potential nominees for bishop are identified.”

In compliance with this requirement, the Synod Council appointed a committee to complete the Synod Study. The committee consists of:

• Rev. Jackie Braun, co-chair
• Dennis Thompson, co-chair
• John Rasmussen
• Scott Parsley
• Rev. Marcia Sylvester
• Reid Christopherson
• Revs Ben & Kristen Eisele

The report is now available for download in the links below.