2011. John Roth was elected bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in June 2011. He served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, IL, for 23 years immediately prior to the synod call. Earlier, he served as assistant pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Glen Ellyn, IL. Bishop John is a graduate of Concordia Senior College (B.A), Christ Seminary-Seminex (M.Div.), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (M.Th.), and Vanderbilt University (M.A.; Ph.D.); he studied also at the University of Tübingen, Germany.

A couple of Bishop John’s more unusual mission experiences are that he spent a month teaching math and social studies to 7th and 8th graders at a Christian Mission School on the Zuni reservation in Zuni, NM, and that he taught theology for a month at the Lutheran seminary in Novosaratovka, Russia.

Bishop John and Kris Roth have been married 37 years. They are the parents of Maria, Laura, and Sam; as of summer 2012, they also boast of son-in-law Drew, thanks to Maria, as well as two grandchildren.

Responsibilities:

• Liaison to Mission Support and Stewardship Education Committee
• Liaison to New and Renewing Congregations Committee
• Area Mission Strategies, New Congregations, and Congregational Vitality

Pastor Rothfusz attended Luther College and Luther Seminary, and was ordained in 1997. She has served calls to St. John Lutheran Church, Bluff Springs, Eureka Presbyterian Church, Eureka, and Salem Lutheran Church, Peoria. In 2018 she was called to serve the Central/Southern Illinois Synod as Director for Evangelical Mission, a position in each of the ELCA synods that promotes congregational vitality. She also serves the synod as Congregational Resources Coordinator ¼ time, which includes assisting staff, pastors, and congregations from a family systems perspective. She is married to Pastor John Rothfusz, and they have three young adult children.

Responsibilities:

• Congregational Call Process
• Candidacy Process
• Liaison to Candidacy Committee

Pastor Sandlin’s hometown is Perryville, MO. He attended high school and college in Concordia, Mo; and completed college in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1975, Pastor Sandlin graduated from Christ Seminary – Seminex in St. Louis; and was ordained in 1976. His first call was from Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Quincy, CA where he served as a worker/priest for 4 ½ years. Pastor Sandlin and wife, Marcia, returned to the mid-west in 1981, having received a call from King of Kings Lutheran Church in Cahokia, IL. In July of 1990, Pastor Sandlin was installed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hillsboro, IL. He served in Hillsboro until his retirement in 2014, and serves as Assistant to the Bishop one-half time.

Pastor Sandlin and Marcia were married in 1978 and have one son, Jeff, who lives in Waterloo, IA with his wife Meridith. Ken and Marcia both enjoy traveling. They have visited all 50 states, have made a few trips into Canada, and have also cruised the Caribbean, including a trip through the Panama Canal.

Responsibilities:

• First Call Theological Education
• Interim Ministry

Pastor Maureen Stein grew up in the Chicago suburbs. She graduated from Concordia Teachers’ College (now Concordia University) in River Forest, then from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA with a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. She worked as an occupational therapist in psychiatric hospitals for a dozen years before returning to school at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, receiving her MDiv in 1991.

She served Trinity Lutheran Church in Chenoa for 9 years, and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Colfax for 7 of those 9 years. She retired in 2015, having served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Canton for 14 years. She serves as Assistant to the Bishop one-quarter time.

She and Brian, married 43 years, have two adult children, Rachel, married to Chris, and Nathan, married to Velia.

Responsibilities:

• Liaison to Adult Faith Formation Committee
• Liaison to Social Ministry, Justice, and Advocacy Committee
• Liaison to Global Mission Committee

Pastor Tegtmeier has served congregations in our synod since 1992. He has served rural, small town, and metropolitan area calls. Most recently, he was pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Godfrey, IL. Pastor Tegtmeier transitioned to retirement in 2018 and serves as Assistant to the Bishop one-quarter time.

Responsibilities:

• Office Manager

Responsibilities:

• Website and Social Media
• Email Communications
• Videographer and Editor
• Congregational Communications and Technology Resource

A Pennsylvania native, Michael joined the synod staff in 2022 as Director of Communications. He previously served as communications manager at the United States Indoor Sports Association for nine years.

His passion for helping the church adapt to new technologies, combined with his education and work experiences, led him to serve as webmaster and social media manager for his home congregation of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Greencastle, Pennsylvania.

He has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University (class of 2012) and a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from Penn State University (class of 2007). Michael is an avid sports fan and cheers for the New England Revolution and New England Patriots, and he enjoys watching international motorsport. He collects Transformers action figures and model starships.

Responsibilities:

• Bookkeeper

Jennie has worked in the bookkeeping field for 23 years, most of them spent in a public school district in Missouri. She has also done some time working in a CPA office and in corporate bookkeeping and tax work.

She recently moved to Springfield, Illinois, from the Springfield, Missouri, area with her husband and two adult children. Jennie’s husband is Associate Regional Minister of Transformation for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Illinois and Wisconsin region. Her son currently a cook at a restaurant in Springfield and lives at home as he gets on his feet and can find a place of his own. Her daughter is finishing her second year of studying Physical Therapy at Maryville University in St. Louis, so they don’t see nearly enough of her anymore.

Jennie is very excited to be working for the Synod and having the opportunity to do a job she enjoys in a ministry setting.