Craig Satterlee re-elected bishop of the ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod

​CHICAGO – The Rev. Craig Alan Satterlee was elected May 18 to serve a second six-year term as bishop of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, held May 16-18 in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Satterlee was re-elected on the fifth ballot, with 152 votes. The Rev. Bill Uetricht, pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Muskegon, Mich., received 113.

Prior to becoming bishop in 2013, Satterlee served as the Carlson Professor of Homiletics at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, one of seven ELCA seminaries. Satterlee also served as dean of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching program for the Association of Chicago Theological Schools and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. 

He served as pastor of Holy Nativity Lutheran Church in Endicott, N.Y., from 1990 to 1995 and as assistant pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Fairport, N.Y., from 1987 to 1990.

Satterlee received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and persuasive communication and rhetoric from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1982 and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1986. Trinity is one of seven ELCA seminaries. Satterlee earned a Ph.D in liturgical studies and homiletics from the University of Notre Dame in 2000. 

Information about the ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod is available at www.mittensynod.org/.

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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with nearly 3.5 million members in more than 9,100 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.

For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
773-380-2877
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org