"I am overwhelmed by the trust the synod has placed in me, and I will do everything I can to live up to that trust," Roth said. Roth told the assembly that "our principal challenge is to trust and to articulate the Christian gospel." He said efforts to define the synod's mission, fund ministries, support congregations and pastors, be inclusive, interpret Scripture and other challenges "will lack focus, energy and staying power unless they credibly proceed from our Lutheran theological core: realization of our profound human brokenness and God's undying grace through Christ crucified and risen."

Roth was elected on the fifth ballot for bishop with 218 votes to 101 for the Rev. Robert J. Rasmus, senior pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana, Ill. The Rev. Dr. Michael C. Hoy, pastor of First Lutheran Church, Decatur, Ill., was also a nominee on the fourth ballot for bishop. There were 49 names on the first, or nominating, ballot.

Roth will succeed the Rev. Warren D. Freiheit, who previously announced his resignation as bishop effective June 30 to accept a call as pastor of an ELCA congregation in Hot Springs, Ark. Freiheit has served as bishop of the synod since 2000. The Rev. Gary L. Hansen, retired bishop of the ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod, will serve as interim bishop until Roth becomes bishop Sept. 1. Roth will be installed Oct. 15 at a location to be named.

Born in St. Louis, Roth earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind. He attendedEberhard-Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany, before earning a Master of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. He earned a Master of Divinity Degree from Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Vanderbilt University.

Following his ordination by the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1981, Roth was assistant pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Glen Ellyn, Ill., and prior to that, a pastoral assistant at Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, Florissant, Mo.

Among his church and community leadership roles, Roth is presently dean of the West Central Conference of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod and a member of the synod council. He has served as a volunteer hospital chaplain at a Jacksonville hospital and a correctional center. He was also a voting member of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.

Roth and his wife, Kristina, are parents of three children: Maria, Laura and Sam.

The ELCA Central/Southern Illinois Synod has more than 47,155 baptized members in 140 congregations. The synod office is in Springfield.

About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)  

The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with approximately 4.5 million members in more than 10,000 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.