Call him ‘pastor’ and ‘national champ’
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
©Pretty Good Lutherans
An ELCA pastor from Illinois has won the top prize for men’s single at the United States Lawn Bowls National Championship in Long Beach, Calif.
The Rev. Stephen Nelson — known as “Steve Nelson” on the lawn bowls circuit — beat out the top competitors from the eight U.S. divisions.
“It’s amazing what clergy can do,” said Nelson, 59, of Park Ridge, Ill.
As the reigning U.S. men’s national champ, he’s earned the right to represent the United States at the World Champion of Champions in 2010. The championship will be played in November on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia.
Nelson works at the main offices of the ELCA in Chicago, not far from O’Hare International Airport. He’s in charge of missionary personnel for the denomination’s Global Mission unit.
Lawn bowls is an outdoor sport usually played on grass. Players roll asymmetric balls, called bowls, in hopes of landing close to a smaller white ball, known as the jack.
“The strategy is always the same,” Nelson said. “Get as close to the little white ball as you can.”
The following individuals are known murder victims with ELCA ties killed since Pretty Good Lutherans was started in September 2009: