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Ewing Resident Named Bishop of New Jersey Lutheran Synod

BartholomewThe Rev. Tracie L. Bartholomew has been elected to a six-year term as bishop of the New Jersey Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Bartholomew, who has served as assistant to the bishop in the New Jersey Synod since 1998, was elected on the fifth ballot during the synod’s assembly June 6-8 in East Brunswick.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., in 1985, and a masters of divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 1989.

Bartholomew was pastor of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Ewing, N.J., from 1993 to 1998, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Lexington Va., from 1991 to 1993, and associate pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Roanoke, Va., from 1989 to 1991.

“I ask for prayers for me and for our congregations as we transition into this new chapter in our synod. I can’t wait to see what new adventures lie ahead,” Bartholomew said.

Bartholomew will be installed Sept. 29. She is married to the Rev. Dan Whitener, pastor at Abiding Presence in Ewing. They have two children.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America includes more than 10,000 congregations across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and has 4.2 million members. The New Jersey Synod is one of 65 synods. The synod is comprised of 175 churches totaling more than 80,000 members.