Installation set for Busboom as bishop of ELCA synod

Details have been finalized for the installation of the Rev. Greg Busboom as bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The installation will take place at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 245 N. Amos Ave., at 11 a.m. on Sept. 23. The public is invited.

Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will preach at the service.

Busboom, the lead pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Springfield since 2011, was elected bishop of the synod at a gathering of church officials in East Peoria on June 3. He was elected on the fifth and final ballot.

Busboom succeeds Bishop S. John Roth, who will retire on Aug. 31. Roth, who was a pastor in Jacksonville when he was elected to the seat in 2011, is completing his second six-year term. Roth and his wife plan to remain in Jacksonville.

The synod covers 76 counties from Peoria to Cairo, or roughly the bottom two-thirds of the state, and has 117 congregations, according to its website.

Busboom served as pastor of outreach and discipleship at St. John’s from 2007 to 2011 when he took over for the Rev. Paul Olsen after he retired. Before coming to Springfield, he was a pastor in Carthage.

The interim lead pastor at St. John's will be the Rev. Leonard Hoffmann.

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This weekend marks the end of Busboom's pastorate at St. John's.

"This congregation has been overwhelmingly supportive and I'm eagerly anticipating the challenges that lie ahead," Busboom said.

Busboom and his wife, Maressa, live in Chatham.

The ELCA, which was founded in 1988 and has headquarters in Chicago. It has a little over 3 million members.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rev. Greg Busboom of Chatham IL to be installed as Lutheran bishop