Celebrating Black History Month: Nelson Trout, first African American Lutheran bishop

 

Nelson Wesley Trout, born in 1921 in Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus.  He received his Doctor of Divinity from Warburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

He served at Trinity Lutheran Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and held several positions on the staff of the American Lutheran Church in Dayton, Ohio.  He returned to Trinity Lutheran Seminary as the professor and Director of Minority Ministry Studies.

In 1983, he was elected bishop of the ALC's South Pacific District, becoming the first African American bishop in US Lutheranism. After the 1987 merger which formed the ELCA, Dr. Trout became Bishop Emeritus of the new Southwest California Synod.  He also served as Director for Mission Theology and Evangelism Training for the ELCA.

Dr. Trout passed away in 1996.

Celebrating Pride Month - Guy Erwin, first openly gay bishop in the ELCA

Guy Erwin, born in Pawhuska, Oklahoma(!), is the first openly gay bishop elected to office in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), in the Southwest California Synod.  He is also a member of the Osage Nation, and is the first Native American bishop in the ELCA. 

He married his long-term partner, Rob Flyn, in 2013.

Celebrating Black History Month: Eugene Sutton, first African-American bishop of Diocese of Maryland

Eugene Sutton, DC native, became the first black bishop of the Diocese of Maryland June 28, 2008 at the Washington National Cathedral where he was consecrated.  He visited our humble little church, Church of the Holy Apostles in Arbutus, last year.  He stated that he was now welcome in churches that a generation ago would not have let him through the front door.