About the First Vice-President

The Rev. Dr. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. is serving as first vice-president, and member of the praesidium, of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), a position to which he was elected to in 2010.

Previously, Mueller served as president of the LCMS Southern Illinois District from 1994 to 2010. Prior to that, he held district offices from 1988 to 1994 including secretary, second vice-president and first vice-president. Between 1979 and 1994, he served as a pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Chicago; Zion Lutheran Church, Bethalto, Ill.; and Immanuel Lutheran Church, Waterloo, Ill.

A native of Grand Forks, N.D., Mueller graduated from Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1973; Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1975; and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., in 1979. Mueller received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind., in 2012.

Mueller served on the LCMS Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support from 1998 to 2007, the Synod Colloquy Committee from 1999-2000, and the Council of Presidents Program Committee from 2003 to 2009. Between 1997 and 2010, Mueller took six mission trips to southern Africa.

Mueller 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.