At the 2025 Synod Assembly, held May 18-20, 2025 in Mt. Pleasant, The Rev. Julie Schneider-Thomas was elected to serve as the next bishop of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod. She succeeds Bishop Craig Alan Satterlee, who has served faithfully for the past twelve years.
Bishop-Elect Schneider-Thomas will begin serving a six-year term as bishop on September 1, 2025. Schneider-Thomas was elected on the fifth ballot, with 166 votes. The Rev. Dana Hendershot, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mount Pleasant, Mich., received 73 votes.
The bishop-elect has served as pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Comstock Park, Mich., since 1996. She also has been serving Hope Lutheran Church in Rockford, Mich., since 2016.
Schneider-Thomas earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion and philosophy from Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., in 1991, and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in 1995. Trinity is one of seven ELCA seminaries.
She will take office Sept. 1. Installation details are pending.
As the North/West Lower Michigan Synod begins a time of transition, we thank Bishop Satterlee and the Synod Staff — Pastor Chrisy Bright, Pastor Kjersten Sullivan, Rebecca Bossenbroek, Ann Stavros, Chelsey Satterlee, and Cathy Satterlee — for their ministry and dedication to this synod.