Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) is committed to the full participation of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life and ministry of the Lutheran church.

The Rev. Dan Hooper

On a hot southern California day, the Holy Spirit was on fire as faithful Lutherans and friends gathered from up and down the West Coast to participate in the installation of Rev. Dan Hooper at Hollywood Lutheran Church in Hollywood, California. Despite the 102°F temperature outside, spirits were high throughout the two-hour afternoon worship service that took place on May 2nd. Dan’s installation marks the twentythird time an openly gay or lesbian Extraordinary Candidacy Project (ECP)- certified pastor has been called to serve a congregation or ministry. Current Bishop of the Southwest California Synod, The Rev. Dean W. Nelson was not present at the service. However, his predecessor, The Rev. Dr. Paul W. Egertson, Bishop Emeritus gave the sermon. The Rev. Jeff Johnson, Chair of the ECP presided at the installation.

Voting with an 82 percent majority, church members extended a call to Pastor Hooper at a congregational meeting on Sunday, March 21. His election to serve Hollywood Lutheran Church is an expression of the members’ resolve to become more active in reaching out to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the Los Angeles area.

Dan Hooper was ordained in the former American Lutheran Church in 1974. He served as a Lutheran pastor in Arizona and Southern California until he was “outed” and removed from the ELCA’s clergy roster in 1988. He is returning to ordained ministry after sixteen years of secular employment with Los Angeles area law firms as a litigation secretary and computer network administrator. Hooper was admitted to the clergy roster of the ECP in 2002 and recertified for Lutheran ministry.