The Role of the Bishop: Changing Models for a Global Church

The essays in this book describe, from several perspectives, the role of the bishop in leading the church. The writers, from their global perspective, bear witness to the fact that the role of the bishop is an ever-changing one as bishops work in the world as it is. Rather than focusing on what will be an anachronistic concept of leadership, the writers hold up the evangelical principle that leadership in the church must be subject to the gospel.

Rev. Dr. Maria E. Erling teaches history and guides Ministerial Leadership placements. Kirsi Stjerna, a native of Finland, is currently Professor of Lutheran History and Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California.

Kirsi I. Stjerna is First Lutheran, Los Angeles/Southwest California Synod Professor of Lutheran History and Theology, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of California Lutheran University, Berkeley, a Core Doctoral Faculty member at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and a Docent in Helsinki University, Finland. She has authored several books, including Women and the Reformation and Luther, The Bible and the Jewish People (with Brooks Schramm), and Lutheran Theology: A Grammar of Faith. She is one of three general editors of the six-volume The Annotated Luther (Fortress Press).