The Rev. Dr. Katrina Foster was installed on November 22 as the sixth bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), becoming the first woman and first lesbian to hold the position. She will oversee 160 congregations across the region.
The installation ceremony, held at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine, celebrated a significant milestone for the church. Bishop Foster’s wife, Pamela Kallimanis, spoke during the joyous service, emphasizing the magnitude of the moment: “God is awesome! Look what God can do!”
Foster was a key figure in the 2009 movement that advocated for the ordination of openly gay and lesbian clergy in the Lutheran Church. She credited her late daughter, Zoia, who passed away at 19, with making the church better and helping to move it from “rejecting her gay children to being a place where you have a lesbian bishop today.”
In her own address, Bishop Foster offered a message of visibility and hope, stating, “I see you. I see your congregations.” She shared that she knew she was called to be a pastor from the age of four, and the acceptance of gay clergy was spurred in 2007 when out pastors made it clear the church would have to change its policies or face significant financial and spiritual consequences.
Having served congregations across the region since her ordination in 1994, one of Bishop Foster’s ongoing foci is building affordable housing through the synod. Her message to LGBTQ New Yorkers is clear and affirming: “We love you. We see you. We are here. And we can’t wait to see you.” Her historic elevation marks a profound victory for inclusion and acceptance within one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations.
