Robert Guy Erwin (born 1958,

Pawhuska, Oklahoma Pawhuska ( Osage: 𐓄𐓘𐓢𐓶𐓮𐓤𐓘, ''hpahúska'', lit.: ''White Hair''; Chiwere: ''Paháhga'') is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,98 ...

) ( Osage) is an American

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. 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 church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

(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 (ELCA) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Gettysburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the seven seminaries of the church. It w ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. A member of the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

, 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 and the county seat of Creek County, Oklahoma, Creek County, extending partly into Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Tulsa County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 21,929 at the time of the 2020 United States census, ...

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

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, graduating in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. He holds the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

, and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degrees from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. 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 o ...

, 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, United States. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It o ...

, 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 Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Protestantism, Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the O ...

as well as courses on

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

, the Pietists, 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

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 2018, Erwin was appointed a member of the

Venerable Order of St John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

. 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 American people American Lutheran theologians Bishops in California California Lutheran University faculty Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bishops American gay men Harvard College alumni LGBTQ Lutheran bishops LGBTQ Native Americans LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ people from Oklahoma Living people Native American academics Osage people Clergy 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 20th-century American Lutheran clergy 21st-century American Lutheran bishops Native American people from Oklahoma Native American people from California Year of birth missing (living people)