The Evangelical Lutheran church accepted seven LGBTQ pastors in 2010 after the ordination of pastors in same-sex relationships was allowed. Now, Rev. Megan Rohrer, one of these seven, has been installed as the first openly transgender bishop during a service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco last week.
The Rev. Megan Rohrer, whose pronoun is they, will be responsible for one of the church’s 65 synods, which is comprised of almost 200 congregations in Northern California and Northern Nevada. Rohrer was elected in May to serve a six-year term after the prior bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod retired.
Rohrer has served as the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco and a chaplain coordinator for the city’s police department. They were also involved in ministering to the city’s homeless and LGBTQ community. Before pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, they studied religion at Augustana University in South Dakota.
“I step into this role because a diverse community of Lutherans in Northern California and Nevada prayerfully and thoughtfully voted to do a historic thing,” Rohrer declared. “My installation will celebrate all that is possible when we trust God to shepherd us forward.”
