Lutherans who comprise the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered from July 28 to Aug. 2 in Phoenix for the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. This assembly is the primary decision-making body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is a triennial gathering of voting members who represent the 2.7 million members of the ELCA across its 65 synods, which are comparable to our diocesan structures.
The assembly convenes to address essential issues, formulate organizational policies, elect leadership positions and allocate the overall budget for the churchwide organization. The gathering is the highest legislative body of the denomination. It is composed of an allocated 845 voting members, serving on behalf of the denomination.
Two key action items for this year’s gathering were the election of the ELCA’s presiding bishop and secretary. The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, the first female presiding bishop of the ELCA, was elected in 2013 and re-elected to a second term in 2019. She will retire at the end of her current term. Deacon Sue Rothmeyer, elected secretary in 2019, will also retire at the end of her current term. During the third day of the assembly, Bishop Yehiel Curry of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod was elected as the ELCA’s new presiding bishop. He will be installed Oct. 4 in Minneapolis and will serve a six-year term.
Bishop Curry is the first Black presiding bishop of the ELCA. He has served as bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod since 2019. He previously served as mission developer and pastor. Before he became a pastor, then a bishop, then chair of the Conference of Bishops for the ELCA, he was a social worker, a teacher and in sales.
Reflecting on all this, Bishop Curry said after his election, “I went from being a social worker to a teacher in the same community where I was helping those families, and in both cases, what I leaned is that passion is very important. And if you can align a person’s passion with a need, then it doesn’t feel like work sometimes.”
The Rev. Lucille “CeCee” Mills was elected to serve a six-year term as ELCA secretary; she will be the first Black secretary of the ELCA. She has served as an assistant to the bishop in the ELCA North Carolina Synod since 2019. Previously, she served as an interim pastor, as program associate for African Descent Ministries in Chicago and as pastor of Rejoice Lutheran Church in Chesapeake, Va.
Upon her election, she remarked, “I have to echo our newly elected presiding bishop that I’m a product of you. I’m also a TEEM candidate.” The Theological Education for Emerging Ministries program prepares individuals for ordained ministry in the ELCA, with a focus on ethic-specific, multicultural, rural and inner-city settings.
Besides electing new leaders, the assembly also considered and acted on proposed amendments to the ELCA’s constitutions, bylaws and continuing resolutions. They took time to recognize the ecumenical and interreligious partners as they celebrated and acknowledged their important work for the church. The assembly also conducted other business related to churchwide officers, including receiving reports, acting on proposals, establishing policy and adopting a budget.
Roman Catholics and Lutherans have been in dialogue in the United States since 1965. Over these 60 years through discussion, joint worship services, charitable work, joint social justice projects and many other commitments toward unity, Lutherans and Catholics continue the journey toward full visible unity.
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
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