The Rev. John F. Bradosky of Centerville, Ohio, was elected Bishop of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) .
Bishop Bradosky, who has served as the General Secretary of the NALC since January, was elected by the NALC Convocation, the church body’s annual meeting, which met Aug. 11-12 in suburban Columbus, Ohio. Eight hundred Lutherans from throughout North America gathered at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church at Mill Run in Hilliard, Ohio, to elect leaders and to set direction for the newly-formed church body.
Bishop Bradosky, 59, was formally installed as bishop at the closing worship service of the Convocation Friday afternoon.
“Today I stand before you even more deeply honored and humbled. Thank you for the trust you have placed in me,” Bishop Bradosky told those at the Convocation after the voting results were announced Friday morning. “Thank you for this opportunity to serve you. You have the promise of my prayer for each of you and your ministries that together, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we will boldly confess Christ.
“I cannot fulfill this office by anything within me. My wisdom and experience is completely insufficient. I can only fulfill this office through the work of the Holy Spirit, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the promise of your faithful prayers and support,” he said.
“The local congregation is the front line for mission and ministry. Our work is to support, facilitate and encourage the ministry and mission work of local congregations. This is where people come to faith in Jesus, where disciples grow and mature in their faith, where people experience Christian community.” Bishop Bradosky said. “Our structure must keep pastors and congregations connected for learning, growing, offering support and care.
Bishop Bradosky has 32 years of pastoral experience with diverse experience in organization and administration. He has served in urban, suburban, and multicultural settings.
Prior to his appointment as General Secretary, Bishop Bradosky senior pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Dayton, Ohio. He has also served St. John Lutheran Church in Springfield, Ohio; Trinity Lutheran Church in Canton, Ohio; and Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Bishop Bradosky is a graduate of Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pa.
Bishop Bradosky’s hobbies include being a private pilot, running, scuba diving, and skiing. He also serves as a high school and collegiate sports official for basketball, soccer and football.
He has completed seven marathons including the 2011 Boston Marathon which he completed with his son, Jacob (winner of the 2010 Marine Corp Marathon).
Pastor Bradosky and his wife, Kristi, have been married for 34 years. Kristi is a registered nurse. They have four children — three of whom are still living — and one grandson. Their first-born son, Joshua, died in a tragic car accident at the age of 6.
The North American Lutheran Church was constituted at the 2010 Convocation of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) Aug. 26-27, 2010, in Grove City, Ohio. The NALC has been growing rapidly since then. More than 250 congregations, representing more than 100,000 Lutherans, have joined the NALC in its first year.
The 2010 Lutheran CORE Convocation elected provisional leaders for the first year of the NALC. The Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa., a retired former ELCA bishop, was elected as provisional bishop to guide the NALC through its first year. The congregations and individuals that have joined the NALC will elect their own leaders this week.
Most NALC congregations and members left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America because of what they see as the ELCA’s movement away from using the Bible as the norm of the church body’s faith and life. The ELCA has lost hundreds of congregations and more than 300,000 members since 2009.
The NALC embodies the theological center of Lutheranism in North America. It is a church body committed to the authority of the Bible as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life. The NALC believes all doctrines should and must be judged by the teaching of Scripture.
The NALC is committed to shaping its life around four core values: Christ-Centered, Mission-Driven, Traditionally-Grounded, and Congregationally-Focused.
Elections for all NALC positions took place at the 2011 Convocation. Among those to be elected at this week’s Convocation are a new bishop and eight members of the NALC’s Executive Council, its national Board of Directors.
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