Lutherans install first woman and openly gay bishop

The newly-installed Bishop Katrina Foster greets the gathering at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Photo credit: Bob Williams

GREENPOINT TO MANHATTAN — The Rev. Dr. Katrina Foster, who most recently served St. John’s Lutheran Church in Greenpoint, was installed on Nov. 22 as the first woman and openly gay bishop to lead the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Metropolitan New York Synod.

Bishop Foster will oversee 160 congregations across the region, leading with a message grounded in social justice, compassion and inclusion. Her ministry has long centered on serving LGBTQIA+ individuals, refugees, and the unhoused. This installation marks a milestone for MNYS and signals a new chapter of leadership for faith communities across the nation.

The laying-on-of-hands at the installation service for the Rev. Dr. Katrina Foster, newly-installed Bishop of the ELCA’s Metropolitan Synod of New York.
Photo credit: Bob Williams

The consecration service, hosted at the Cathedral of St. John Divine, added to both the historical nature of the liturgy and to the longtime full-communion relationship between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Yehiel Curry, the ELCA’s first Black Presiding Bishop, was the homilist.

The ELCA’s Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry stands with newly-inducted Bishop Katrina Foster of the Metropolitan NY Synod.
Photo credit: Bob Williams

Bishop Foster holds baccalaureate and advanced degrees in religion, philosophy and sociology from Newberry College, the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Philadelphia.

Ordained to ministry in 1994, she served parishes around the New York metro area before being called to St. John’s Church in Greenpoint in 2015, where she served until earlier this year as she transitioned to her new role as bishop of the NY Metropolitan Synod.

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