HILLIARD, Ohio (AP) -- A western Ohio pastor has been chosen as bishop of the newly formed North American Lutheran Church.

About 800 members elected the Rev. John Bradosky of Centerville as bishop during a meeting in suburban Columbus this week. The church says the 59-year-old Bradosky was installed Friday during a closing worship service.

The church was formed last year by churches that left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after America's largest Lutheran denomination decided to allow non-celibate gays into its clergy.

A statement from the church says more than 250 congregations representing more than 100,000 Lutherans have joined the new church.

It says the church is committed to the authority of the Bible as the inspired word of God.