The Rev. Robert F. Humphrey, Harrisonburg, Virginia, was elected June 11 to a six-year term as bishop of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election was held during the Synod Assembly June 9-11 at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.
Humphrey was elected on the fifth ballot with 217 votes to 167 votes for The Rev. Kelly Bayer Derrick, associate pastor of St. Philip Lutheran Church of Roanoke, Virginia.
Humphrey has served as co-pastor of Muhlenberg Lutheran Church since 2010.
The bishop-elect earned a Bachelor of Arts from the from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia in 1977. He received his Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 1981.
The Rev. James F. Mauney, current bishop of the ELCA Virginia Synod, has served as bishop since 1999 and will retire Aug. 31.
Humphrey will be installed as bishop on September 9 at First Presbyterian Church in Waynesboro, Virginia.
