R. Guy Erwin (born 1958,

Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( osa, 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘 / hpahúska, ''meaning: "White Hair"'', iow, Paháhga) is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named after the 19th-century Osage chief, ''Paw-Hiu-Skah'', wh ...

) (

Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...

) is an American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He was elected in 2013 to a six-year term as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...

(ELCA). Since August 2020, he has served as president of the

United Lutheran Seminary United Lutheran Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Gettysburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the seven seminaries of the church. It was created in 2017 when the Lutheran Theological Seminary a ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. A member of the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

, Erwin is the first Native American bishop elected to office in the ELCA. He was ordained as a minister in 2011, two years after the denomination dropped its ban against LGBT clergy. He is the first openly gay bishop in the ELCA.

Biography

Born in

, in 1958, Erwin has Osage and European ancestry; he is registered as and identifies as a member of the

. When he was eight, his family moved to Germany; there he learned to speak German, and began to be interested in church history and Lutheranism. After their return to the United States, the family settled in

Sapulpa, Oklahoma Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 census. The population as of 2022 is 22,205. As of 2019, the estimated popul ...

. Erwin was president of the student council at Sapulpa High School, where he graduated. Erwin went to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, graduating in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. He holds the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

, and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Based on a

Fulbright grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, Erwin lived in Germany for two years, where he conducted research for his doctoral dissertation and began to prepare for ministry. But in 1987, the newly created Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) denied ordination to a group of gay and lesbian seminarians. Erwin began to work within the Lutheran Church for changes to its position on gay clergy. While teaching for years at

California Lutheran University California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

, he also served as a volunteer parish associate. From 1993 to 1999, Erwin was lecturer in ecclesiastical history in the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

(YDS). He taught History of Western Christianity as well as courses on

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

, the

Pietists Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

, and other topics. Since 2000 Erwin has taught at

. He is considered a specialist on the life and teachings of

, considered founder of the faith and highly influential to the Protestant Reformation. During the 2006–2007 academic year, Erwin was visiting professor at Yale Divinity School while on sabbatical. In 2008 he was promoted to full professor. He was ordained as a minister in 2011, two years after the ELCA dropped its ban on LGBT clergy. Two years later, in an historic vote, Erwin was elected as bishop for a customary six-year term in the Southwest California Synod, which encompasses most of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. He oversees 126 congregations with 33,000 members. He also serves on the advisory council of the Guibord Center, an interfaith non-profit in Los Angeles. In 2020, Erwin was appointed as president of

Personal life

Erwin has been in a committed same-sex relationship with Rob Flynn for 20 years. They were married in August 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erwin, Guy 1950s births 21st-century Native Americans American Lutheran theologians Bishops in California California Lutheran University faculty Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bishops Gay men Harvard College alumni LGBT Lutheran bishops LGBT Native Americans LGBT people from California LGBT people from Oklahoma Living people Native American academics Osage people People from Los Angeles People from Pawhuska, Oklahoma Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America Yale University alumni Yale Divinity School alumni Yale Divinity School faculty