Harrison elected to serve fifth term as LCMS president
The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, having received 52.32% of the votes cast, is the president-elect of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) for a fifth term of office, 2023–2026.
The nominations process for the position of Synod president began last fall. The resulting candidates were the five ordained ministers who received the highest number of votes in the nominations process and who consented to serve if elected: Harrison, the incumbent president; the Rev. Dr. Patrick T. Ferry, former president of Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor; the Rev. Richard L. Snow, president of the LCMS Nebraska District; the Rev. Peter K. Lange, LCMS first vice-president; and the Rev. Benjamin T. Ball, LCMS sixth vice-president.
The election took place, according to Bylaw 3.12.2.4, starting June 17 (six weeks prior to the convention) via internet balloting provided by YesElections (formerly Election-America). The 6,053 pastoral and lay voters validly registered by the congregations and parishes of the Synod (Bylaw 3.12.2.3) before the deadline (electronic registration by March 19) or their substitutes (as validly submitted before June 9) served as the voters for this election. Of those, a total of 5,000 votes were cast, constituting a vote percentage of 82.60% of the electorate.
The results of the ballot tallied and reported to the Secretary of the Synod by YesElections are as follows:
Harrison was voted president-elect with 2,616 votes (52.32%);
Ferry received 1,593 votes (31.86%);
Ball received 341 votes (6.82%);
Snow received 318 votes (6.36%); and
Lange received 132 votes (2.64%).
Additional information about the election result will be published in the second issue of Today's Business, which will be available at the beginning of the convention. For more information about the election or candidates, seelcms.org/convention/national/elections.
