Decorah native Usgaard to speak at Luther commencement ceremonies

Decorah native Reverend Harold L. Usgaard, bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be the speaker at the school's commencement ceremonies this month, the school has announced.

Usgaard is a 1969 graduate of Luther. He holds the master of divinity degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.  Usgaard served on the Luther College Board of Regents from 1997-2009.

Ordained in 1973, Usgaard served Zumbro Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn. from 1973-78. He served Mount Hope Lutheran Church in West Allis, Wis. from 1978-91, and returned to Minnesota to serve St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin from 1991-2001.

In 2001, Usgaard was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod. He was re-elected to a second term in 2007.