Founders Day Convocation

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton is Presiding Bishop Emerita of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). She served as the ELCA’s fourth presiding bishop from 2013 to 2025 and was the first woman elected to that office. She was reelected to a second six-year term at the 2019 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Eaton earned a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the College of Wooster. Ordained in 1981, she served three congregations in Ohio before being elected bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod in 2006. She was reelected synod bishop in 2013, shortly before her election as presiding bishop.

Her leadership emphasized four affirmations of the ELCA’s identity: “We are church; We are Lutheran; We are church together; We are church for the sake of the world.” During her tenure, the ELCA developed Future Directions 2025, a strategic framework designed to help the church pursue its shared aspirations and respond faithfully to emerging challenges. She also launched Bishop Eaton’s Leadership Initiative, encouraging ELCA members to identify and inspire gifted people to consider a call to public ministry.

As the ELCA’s chief ecumenical officer, Eaton represented the church in a wide range of ecumenical and interreligious settings. Her ministry included participating in the ordination of the first woman pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, addressing the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and leading the ELCA delegation to the 13th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Kraków, Poland.

Eaton is married to the Rev. T. Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest. They are the parents of two adult children, Rebeckah and Susannah.