I was born 1963 in Medias and grew up in Mosna/Meschen in a Lutheran Church in Transylvania, in Romania – in a Saxon community together with orthodox and other denominations. At that time my home country was a totalitarian entity where the ideology of “scientific atheism” and antireligious propaganda was taught and practiced in school and dominated public life. My motivation to serve as a minister in the Church and to study theology has its roots in the experience that the communion in a local Lutheran congregation is a visible space and a sign for the dignity and freedom in God’s world. I couldn’t become a student in Romania and became a toolmaker. Finally, my family emigrated 1985 to Germany. I studied protestant and ecumenical theology and philosophy in Neuendettelsau, Tübingen, München and Erlangen and in Rome as a postgraduate student at the Gregorian University in Rome.

In 1997 I was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. In 2002 I graduated as a Doctor in Theology in Erlangen-Nuremberg University with a doctoral thesis about Andrei Sagunas reforms and renewal of the orthodox churches in Transylvania and Hungary in the light of holy scriptures and the participation of lay people in the synods. I have taught Church History and systematics more than six years in Erlangen University, served as the secretary for international ecumenical scholarships of GNC-LWF (DNK-LWB) in Stuttgart, and led the scholarships program for Ecumenical Diaconia for many years. For six years I served as Executive Secretary for International and National ecumenical dialogues with Orthodox Churches in the Office the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) in Hannover.

In 2011, I was elected bishop in the church district of Halle and Wittenberg in the Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland and reelected 2021 for the district of Magdeburg that covers the Land Saxony-Anhalt, South Brandeburg, North Saxony and North of Thuringia. In 2017 the Orthodox Faculty in Sibiu awarded me a Doctor Honoris Causa.

From the stage to the pulpit, Mia integrates her artistic, academic, and spiritual callings in pursuit of life and liberation.  A native of New Orleans, she began training early in dance, piano, voice, and violin, performing in both community and professional theatre. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University’s Department of Drama and built a distinguished career as a performer. A proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association, she appeared on stages across the country including Portland Centre Stage, Syracuse Stage, Northshore Music Theatre, and Westchester Broadway Theatre. As a published songwriter, arranger, and composer, she has written for solo artists, musical groups, denominations, and conferences, and is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Mia’s academic work explores the intersection of performance art, spirituality, and identity. She holds a Master’s degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she examined the relationship between performance arts and Black identity politics. Her culminating thesis was an original, interactive one-woman show titled Color Me. Inspired by her pastor to deepen her theological imagination, she pursued a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, concentrating in homiletics and psychology. During her time at Union, she was active in the Black Women’s Caucus and awarded both the Jonathan Kneeland Preaching Fellowship and the Karen Ziegler Feminist Preaching Prize.

Mia was licensed to preach at the First Corinthian Baptist Church (Harlem) and ordained in the United Church of Christ. She currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., making history as the church’s first African American and first woman to hold the role in its 165-year legacy. Her previous ministry roles include Associate Minister of Faith Formation and Outreach at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was the first African-American member of Senior Staff, and Interim Director of Children’s Ministries at Fort Washington Collegiate Church in New York City.

Mia continues to innovate and integrate: liturgically, homiletically, and artistically. In 2020, she received an Innovation Grant from Duke Divinity School’s Foundations of Christian Leadership program, supporting her research on decolonizing liturgical practice and space, which led to the creation of her ongoing course, “Decolonizing Liturgy.” The course has been engaged in Baptist, UCC, and ecumenical settings. Additionally, She has served as liturgist and songwriter for the United Church of Christ at General Synods 33 and 34, and as songwriter for the United Church of Canada and United Church of Christ’s Advent Unwrapped projects (2022 and 2023). Her creative and liturgical work has been commissioned by the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ, the UCC’s Media Justice Ministry, Duke Divinity, Church & Society of the United Methodist Church, the Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership, the RISE Together Conference for Women of Color in Ministry, and the Alliance of Baptists Thrive Initiative. A sought-after proclaimer, Mia has been featured on podcasts, at protests, and in pulpits, embodying and empowering revolutionary discipleship that transforms the conditions of our living together.

She is the proud mom of Harry (poodle) and Mr. Trio (cat), a connoisseur of king cake, and a tomato gardener.