Paul Stumme-Diers (born 1960) was a

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 ...

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) Greater Milwaukee Synod. Born in 1960 in

Waverly, Iowa Waverly is a city in Bremer County, Iowa, United States. The population was 10,394 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Bremer County and is part of the Waterloo– Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The sister cit ...

, Stumme-Diers is the fourth of five children of Herman and Dorothy Diers. He was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waverly and graduated from

Waverly-Shell Rock Senior High School Waverly-Shell Rock Senior High School is a public senior high school located in Waverly, Iowa, United States. It provides high school education for Waverly and surrounding areas in Bremer County. Organization The school is part of the Waverly- ...

. In 1982, he graduated from

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

with a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Paul and Laurie Stumme-Diers were married in 1983 in Waverly. Both attended

Wartburg Theological Seminary Wartburg Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Dubuque, Iowa. It offers three graduate-level degrees (MA, MA Diaconal Ministry, and M.Div.), a Theological Education for Emerging Ministries certificat ...

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

, Iowa and graduated with

masters of divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

degrees in 1988. On August 13, 1989 they were

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

at St. Paul’s in Waverly. In September 1989, he was called to serve at Resurrection Lutheran Church in

New Berlin, Wisconsin New Berlin () is a city located along the Milwaukee /Waukesha County Border in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. The population was 40,451 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest community in Waukesha County after the cities of Waukesha and ...

; he later served as pastor at Resurrection from 1989–1997, and at All Saints Lutheran Church in

Wales, Wisconsin Wales is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, first settled by Welsh immigrants. The population was 2,862 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Wales is located at (43.003882, -88.377558). According to the United States Census Burea ...

, from January 1998 to August 2002. As a pastor in the synod, Stumme-Diers served as the synod disaster relief coordinator for efforts in Minnesota, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, and New York City. On June 1, 2002, he was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod. He succeeded Peter Rogness, who served as bishop since the Greater Milwaukee Synod was created in 1988. He was re-elected to a second and final six-year term in 2008. In 2009, Stumme-Diers announced his resignation from the office of bishop to return to local parish ministry. He currently serves as pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church of Bainbridge Island, Wash. Stumme-Diers also served on the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee and as a board member of

Carthage College Carthage College is a private college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It enrolls 2,600 full-time and 200 part-time students. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more th ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

, Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, and Wartburg Theological Seminary.

References

Biography on Synod Website
retrieved November 27, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stumme-Diers 1960 births Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bishops Religious leaders from Wisconsin Living people Pacific Lutheran University alumni Carthage College Wartburg Theological Seminary alumni People from Waverly, Iowa People from New Berlin, Wisconsin 20th-century American Lutheran clergy 21st-century American Lutheran bishops