By Gretchen Roberts
ST. LOUIS (July 21, 2013) — The Rev. Dr. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. was elected to his second term as first vice-president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) during the church body’s 65th Regular Convention.
With 1,191 registered delegates able to vote and 1,030 votes cast for the election, Mueller on the first ballot received 575 votes, or 55.8 percent of the vote.
Also on the ballot were the Rev. Dr. John C. Wohlrabe Jr., with 129 votes, or 12.5 percent; the Rev. Daniel Preus, with 121 votes or 11.8 percent; the Rev. Dr. Scott R. Murray, with 117 votes or 11.4 percent; and the Rev. Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher, with 88 votes or 8.5 percent of the vote.
Just prior to voting, LCMS Chaplain William Weedon led the convention in prayer. Synod Secretary Rev. Dr. Raymond Hartwig noted before the voting that the process for electing the first vice-president is new this convention. From a list of 20 ordained ministers who received the highest number of nominations from LCMS congregations and who agreed to serve if elected, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison selected the five candidates for first vice-president and announced the nominees on July 16.
Mueller graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 1979, and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 2012. After serving in the parish for three congregations in Illinois, Mueller was elected as president of the Synod’s Southern Illinois District in 1994. He served until 2010, when he was elected first vice-president of the Synod. He and his wife, Faith, live in Waterloo, Ill., and are members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Columbia, Ill. They have two grown sons, one grown daughter, and two grandchildren.
The 65th Regular Convention of the LCMS is meeting July 20-25 at the America’s Center Convention Complex under the theme “Baptized for This Moment.”
