Raymond L. Schultz, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), has announced that he will retire as of Sept. 1, 2007 following the election of a successor at the church’s National Convention in June.
Bishop Schultz cited personal health and family as reasons for retiring before completing his second four-year term.
Bishop Schultz was elected to his first term as national bishop at the 2001 National Convention in Waterloo, Ont. At the 2005 National Convention, delegates re-elected him to a second term.
Bishop Schultz advised ELCIC’s National Church Council (NCC) on Jan. 1 of his decision and asked that it start a process for having an election for his successor at the National Convention in Winnipeg this June 21-24.
Prior to his election as National Bishop in 2001, Bishop Schultz was bishop of the British Columbia Synod from 1998 to 2001.