Megan Rohrer

Megan Rohrer (born April 3, 1980) is an American pastor, bishop-elect, and activist. Rohrer (who uses gender-neutral "singular they" pronouns) is the first openly transgender minister to be ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. On May 8, 2021, Rohrer was elected bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod, becoming the first openly trans person to serve as bishop of a major U.S. Christian denomination.
Early life and education.
Rohrer was born in 1980 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1998, they graduated from high school and enrolled in Augustana University to study religion. In college they came out as a lesbian, and became president of the Gay-Straight Alliance. They encountered resistance, threats, and attempted "cures" by fellow students for their sexuality. Rohrer graduated from Augustana in 2001.
Rohrer moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002 to continue their studies. By this time they had come to identify as transgender. Rohrer attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, earning a Master of Divinity from PSR in 2005 and a Doctor of Ministry in 2016.
Rohrer was ordained in 2006, becoming the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Rohrer claims to be related to Nicholas of Flüe in the 16th generation.
Career.
In 2010, Rohrer and six other Bay Area gay and transgender pastors were reinstated into the Evangelical Lutheran Church, after the national assembly voted to allow partnered gay people to serve as clergy. The pastors' churches had previously been banned from the denomination for ordaining gay and lesbian ministers who refused to take vows of celibacy.
In 2014, Rohrer was installed as pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco.
In 2017, Rohrer was hired by the San Francisco Police Department as their first chaplain from the LGBTQ community.
In 2021, Rohrer was elected bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod, becoming the first openly trans person to serve as bishop of a major U.S. Christian denomination.
Activism.
Rohrer has helped the homeless in San Francisco, serving as Executive Director of the Welcome ministry to the homeless and hungry, leading the Singers of the Street choir, distributing sandwiches, and participating in a night ministry with other local pastors. Rohrer has also helped to grow and distribute thousands of pounds of free food from community gardens.
In 2015, Rohrer started a fundraiser to raise bail for Meagan Taylor, a black trans woman who was held in isolation in an Iowa jail.
In the wake of the 2016 Oakland warehouse fire, in which at least three transgender people were killed, Rohrer was called upon by the city of Oakland to provide support and assistance to the community.
Rohrer has advocated for trans people who would be negatively impacted by proposed "bathroom bills" that seek to restrict restroom usage based on sex assigned at birth.
In 2021, Rohrer shared their experiences of being a pastor during the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocated for LGBTQ community members to get vaccinated.
Selected publications.
Through Grace Lutheran Church and Wilgefortis Press, Rohrer has written a number of books for children in the Good News Children's Book Series.
Adult titles authored or co-authored by Rohrer include: