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Biography
R. Guy Erwin (born 1958) is an American Lutheran bishop. He was elected in 2013 to a six-year term as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Erwin is the first Native American bishop elected to office in the ELCA, and is a member of the Osage Nation. He is also the first openly gay bishop in the ELCA, and has lived in a committed same-sex relationship for 20 years.He and Rob Flynn were married in August 2013.
Erwin received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1980. He holds the Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Yale University.From 1993 to 1999 he was lecturer in ecclesiastical history in the Yale Divinity School (YDS), where he taught History of Western Christianity as well as courses on Martin Luther, the Pietists and other specialities.During the 2006–2007 academic year he was visiting professor at YDS while on sabbatical from California Lutheran University where he has taught since 2000.