Churchwide Representative: Secretary Lucille "CeCee" Mills
The Rev. Lucille “CeCee” Mills was elected to a six-year term as the Secretary of the ELCA at the most recent Churchwide Assembly in August 2025 and began serving her new call on November 1st last year. Over the years, Pastor Mills has served in a variety of settings across the three expressions of the church – congregations, synods, and churchwide.
Secretary Mills grew up in Greensboro, N.C. She completed her seminary studies at The Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Ordained in 2004, she served her first ten years of ministry in the Virginia Synod. Pastor Mills then served several congregations as an interim in the NC Synod while also serving as an Associate Program Director for African Descent Ministries in the ELCA Churchwide Offices over five years. She served six years on the synod staff of the North Carolina Synod. Initially, she was the Associate Director for Evangelical Mission and but later transitioned to serving as an Assistant to Bishop. After being elected as Secretary, she relocated to Chicago with her family, which includes her father and her adult son.
Keynote Speaker: Pastor Laurie Skow-Anderson
The Rev. Dr. Laurie Skow-Anderson is a retired bishop and longtime pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America whose ministry has been marked by a deep commitment to congregational vitality, innovation, and the movement of the Holy Spirit within diverse communities. She is married to her husband, Randy—a retired ELCA pastor—and together they enjoy the blessings of three adult children and four above-average grandchildren.
In 2014, Dr. Skow-Anderson was called to the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin, serving first as Director of Evangelical Mission and assistant to the bishop. In 2018, she was elected bishop of the synod, a role she carried out with vision and care until her retirement on August 1, 2024.
Her professional passions include congregational vitality, Fresh Expressions of church, spiritual practices, coaching, mentoring, innovation in ministry, and supporting Spanish-language ministries. In retirement, she enjoys a full life of biking, hiking, traveling, reading, cooking, and gardening.
