Slovak Zion Synod
Encyclopedia
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
. It is the only non-geographic synod in the ELCA, the only ELCA synod to have a congregation in Canada, and the only synod based on mission and outreach. The synod was founded by Slovak immigrants
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
in 1919 as the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Zion Synod and joined with the United Lutheran Church in America
United Lutheran Church in America
The United Lutheran Church in America was established in 1918 with the merger of three independent German-language synods: the General Synod , the General Council and the United Synod of the South . The Slovak Zion Synod joined the United Lutheran Church in America in 1920...
remaining as a separate synod in that denomination. The policy continued when the ULCA merged into the Lutheran Church in America
Lutheran Church in America
The Lutheran Church in America was a U.S. and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press....
(1962) and later the ELCA (1988).
The synod has congregations located in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The Rev. Wilma S. Kucharek is currently bishop of the Slovak Zion Synod, elected in 2002. She succeeded the Rev. Juan Čobrda
Juan Cobrda
The Rev. Juan Čobrda was a bishop of the Lutheran church, heading a national church body in Argentina and the Slovak Zion Synod in the United States. He was born in Príbovce, near Martin, Slovakia on the 11th of August 1930. After World War II his family immigrated to Argentina...
(1993 - 2002) who succeeded the Rev. Kenneth E. Zindle.
Kucharek was re-elected to a second term as Bishop on June 28, 2008, by the annual assembly.
In the 2009-2010 year, the Slovak Zion Synod observed and celebrated its ninetieth anniversary of establishment.
Synod assemblies
Every year, the synod's largest legislative body convenes to govern the church body. The assembly typically consists of plenary sessions focused on business and enrichment, and worship.Over the past few years, synod assemblies have been held at many of the synod's own churches in order to establish a stronger relationship and understanding between the congregation and its own accomplishments through the greater church expressions of the Slovak Zion Synod, and the ELCA. Synod Assemblies have consistently seen an ongoing drop in cost to hold, and cost to congregations due to ongoing efforts to discover more economic venues for the body.
- Prior to 2003- Muhlenberg CollegeMuhlenberg CollegeMuhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America.- History...
, Allentown, PA - 2003 and 2005- Ascension Lutheran Church, Binghamton, NY
- 2004, 2008 and 2009- Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Union, NJ
- 2006- Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church, Hazleton, PA
- 2007- St. John the Evangelist Lutheran Church, Lansford, PA
- 2010 Gala Event/Assembly- New York, NY to Saint John, New Brunswick- Carnival Cruise LinesCarnival Cruise LinesCarnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
- 2011- New York, NY to Saint John, New Brunswick- Carnival Cruise LinesCarnival Cruise LinesCarnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
- 2012- To Be Determined