Lucille "CeCee" Mills addresses the assembly as one of the top nominees on the ballot at the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in Phoenix. - Cetera Jacobs for the ELCA

The Rev. Lucille “CeCee” Mills was elected Aug. 1 to serve a six-year term as secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Mills previously served as an assistant to the bishop ELCA North Carolina Synod in Salisbury since 2019.

The election took place during the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly being held July 28–Aug. 2 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona.

Mills was elected on the fifth ballot. There were 782 ballots cast, with 392 votes needed for an election. Mills received 404 votes to 378 votes for the Rev. Matthew Riegel, bishop of the ELCA West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod. Mills will be the first

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