Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Slovak Zion Synod—ELCA
Emblem of the Slovak Zion Synod
Classification
Protestant
Orientation
Mainline Lutheran
Bishop
Wilma S. Kucharek
Associations
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran World Federation Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia
Region
non-geographic
Origin
Est. 1919 (Joined the ULCA in 1920) Braddock, Pennsylvania
Congregations
20 (2001)
Members
2,635 baptized members (2021)[1]
Official website
slovakzionsynod.org
The Slovak Zion Synod is a group of 20 Lutheran congregations and one of the 65 synods that make up the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is the only non-geographic synod in the ELCA, the only ELCA synod to have a congregation in Canada, and the only synod defined by its mission and outreach, instead of geography.[2][3] The synod was founded by Slovak immigrants in 1919 as the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Zion Synod and joined with the United Lutheran Church in America, remaining as a separate synod in that denomination.[4] The policy continued when the ULCA merged into the Lutheran Church in America (1962) and later the ELCA (1988).
The synod has congregations in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and in Ontario, Canada.[5]
The Rev. Wilma S. Kucharek is currently bishop of the Slovak Zion Synod, elected in 2002. She succeeded the Rev. Juan Čobrda (1993–2002) who succeeded the Rev. Kenneth E. Zindle.[6] Kucharek was re-elected to a second term as bishop on June 28, 2008, to a third term on November 17, 2014,[7] and to a fourth term on December 14, 2022,[8] by the same governing body. As of 2023, Kucharek is the longest-serving female bishop in the ELCA.
^"Synod Data Toolkit for 2021: Synod 7G – Slovak Zion" (PDF). Retrieved September 9, 2023.
^"Synods". ELCA.org. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^"Constitutions, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America®" (PDF).
^Body, John (1976). History of Slovak Zion Synod—LCA. Lutheran Church in America Slovak Zion Synod.
^"Synods". ELCA.org. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^"Wilma Kucharek Elected Bishop of ELCA Slovak Zion Synod". www.elca.org. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
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the United Synod of the South (1863). The SlovakZionSynod (1919) joined the ULCA in 1920. The Icelandic Synod (1885) also joined the United Lutheran Church...
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September 19, 1954) is bishop of the SlovakZionSynod. Kucharek was born in Johnson City, New York and baptized in Slovak at Ascension Lutheran in Binghamton...
Ingria Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Slovak ZionSynod) Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church) Diocese of Härnösand...
bishop in Church of Sweden (since 2009) Wilma Kucharek - bishop in SlovakZionSynod (since 2002) Caroline Krook - bishop in Church of Sweden (since 1998)...
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Ecumenical co-consecrator of Gates was Wilma S. Kucharek, Bishop of the SlovakZionSynod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Ecumenical co-consecrator...
all Palestine, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion" in the presence of senior church and secular dignitaries, including Archbishop...
Church Lutheran Church—Canada Lutheran Church—Hong Kong Synod Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheran Church of Australia Kosovo Protestant Evangelical...
communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via local synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous...
Catholic Church – 0.4 million Hungarian Greek Catholic Church – 0.3 million Slovak Greek Catholic Church – 0.3 million Belarusian Greek Catholic Church – 0...
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have been merged into other groups (e.g. Hauge Synod) nor groups that have become defunct (e.g. Eielsen Synod). Some of the denominations belong to more than...
September 17, 2019. "Rosters and Statistics". The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. November 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2019. "National Association of Free Will...
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list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the Synod of Hippo (Synod of 393), Council of Carthage, 28 August 397, and Council of Florence...
2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-12. "Second Day of Deliberations of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria". patriarchateofalexandria.com. Archived...
Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4969-5704-7. The Discipline...
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