Slovak_Zion_Synod
Slovak Zion Synod
Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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.
