MetroLutheran

The Rev. A.L. Barry, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) since 1992, died of kidney and liver failure complications Friday, March 23, in an Orlando, Florida hospital. He was 69.
Barry, who had been in poor health for several years, had been in Florida visiting his daughter when pneumonia forced his hospitalization. A staph infection complicated his condition, from which he did not recover.
The Rev. Robert. T. Kuhn, the Synod’s first vice president, will become interim president until the denomination’s national convention in St. Louis, Missouri, in July.
Barry had indicated his willingness to serve another term. Synod conservatives had been expected to support his re-election. More moderate members of the LCMS have been working to find a credible replacement candidate for Barry. His death appears to throw the election process into disarray.
The churchwide bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Dr. H. George Anderson, and the national president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), Dr. Karl Gurgel, both spoke with appreciation of the leadership Barry had provided the LCMS.
Funeral services for Barry were held at Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday, March 30.