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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 13 September 2021

Evangelical Lutheran church installs 1st transgender bishop

ern California and northern noun “they,” previously
Nevada. served as pastor of Grace
Lutheran Church in San
“My call is ... to be up to the Francisco and a chaplain co-
same messy, loving things I ordinator for the city’s police
was up to before,” Rohrer department, and also helped
told worshippers. “But most- minister to the city’s home-
ly, if you’ll let me, and I think less and LGTBQ commu-
you will, my hope is to love nity. They studied religion
you and beyond that, to love at Augustana University in
what you love.” their hometown of Sioux
Falls, South Dakota, before
Rohrer was elected in May to moving to California to pur-
serve a six-year term as bish- sue master and doctoral de-
op of the Sierra Pacific Synod grees at the Pacific School of
after its current bishop an- Religion in Berkeley.
nounced his retirement.
Rohrer became one of seven
“I step into this role because LGBTQ pastors accepted by
a diverse community of Lu- the progressive Evangelical
therans in Northern Califor- Lutheran church in 2010 af-
nia and Nevada prayerfully ter it allowed ordination of
and thoughtfully voted to do pastors in same-sex relation-
a historic thing,” Rohrer said ships. Rohrer is married and
in a statement. “My installa- has two children.
tion will celebrate all that is
(AP) — The Evangeli- op in a service held in San The Rev. Megan Rohrer will possible when we trust God The church is one of the larg-
cal Lutheran Church in Francisco’s Grace Cathe- lead one of the church’s 65 to shepherd us forward.” est Christian denominations
America installed its first dral on Saturday. synods, overseeing nearly in the United States with
openly transgender bish- 200 congregations in North- Rohrer, who uses the pro- about 3.3 million members.

Woman is 2nd to admit role in death of 8 members of a family

(AP) — An Ohio woman the Rhoden family. Wag- rified residents in a stretch
pleaded guilty Friday to In exchange for the plea, ner’s plea comes nearly five of rural Ohio and launched The Wagners used guns with
helping plan the killings prosecutors dropped aggra- months after her son Edward one of the state’s most exten- homemade silencers, allow-
of eight members of a vated murder charges against “Jake” Wagner pleaded guilty sive criminal investigations, ing them to kill their victims
family, becoming the sec- her and recommended that to aggravated murder and which led to the Wagners’ as they slept, according to the
ond member of her own she serve a 30-year prison other charges and agreed to arrest more than two years prosecutors.
family to admit to a role sentence. Her agreement to testify against the other three later.
in a shocking crime pros- testify against other remain- in a deal that would help all Angela Wagner was fully
ecutors say stemmed from ing defendants was also part four avoid potential death The Wagners spent months aware of the plans and bought
a dispute over custody of of the deal, they said. sentences. planning the killings and tar- several items used to carry
her granddaughter. geted some of the victims, out the killings, including
She didn’t make any state- George “Billy” Wagner III but “some sadly were killed “phone jammers” that would
Angela Wagner, 50, pleaded ments during the hearing. and George Wagner IV have because they happened to be have prevented the victims
guilty in southern Ohio’s pleaded not guilty. there,” said special prosecu- from calling for help, Canepa
Pike County to conspiracy to Her husband and their two tor Angela Canepa. said.
commit aggravated murder, adult sons also were charged The fatal shootings at three
along with burglary, evidence in the 2016 slayings of seven trailers and a camper near Most of the victims were re- She also forged custody doc-
tampering and other charges. adults and a teenage boy from Piketon in April 2016 ter- peatedly shot in the head, and uments and monitored some
some showed signs of bruis- of the victims’ social media
ing. Three young children at accounts before the killings,
the scenes were unharmed. Canepa said. Wagner ap-
proached prosecutors about
The victims were 40-year-old a deal and gave them new
Christopher Rhoden Sr.; his information after her son
ex-wife, 37-year-old Dana pleaded guilty, Canepa said.
Rhoden; their three chil-
dren, 20-year-old Clarence Jake Wagner pleaded guilty in
“Frankie” Rhoden, 16-year- April on the fifth anniversary
old Christopher Jr., and of the slayings and said in
19-year-old Hanna; Clarence court that he was “deeply and
Rhoden’s fiancee, 20-year- very sorry.” He hasn’t been
old Hannah Gilley; Chris- sentenced, but his lawyer said
topher Rhoden Sr.’s brother, he understood that he would
44-year-old Kenneth Rho- spend his life in prison.
den; and a cousin, 38-year-
old Gary Rhoden. Christopher Rhoden Sr.’s
brother, Tony Rhoden Sr.,
Prosecutors say the Wagner has said the family was grate-
family planned the killings ful for the first plea as “some
for months, motivated by a semblance of justice.”
dispute over custody of the
daughter Jake Wagner had He also has sued the Wag-
with Hanna Rhoden. ners. That case is pending.