The Rev. Dr. S. John Roth, Bishop
- 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.