The South Carolina Synod is one of 65 geographical administrative districts (similar to a diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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...

, comprising the entire state of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. The current bishop of the Synod is The Rev. Dr. Herman R. Yoos III, who was elected by the 2008 Synod Assembly at the retirement of The Rev. David Donges. Bishop Yoos' current term will end in 2014.

Conferences

The conferences of the Synod are smaller administrative units comprising individual parishes located geographically close together. The conferences of the Synod are:

• Conference 1: Foothills
• Conference 2: Upstate
• Conference 3: Epiphany
• Conference 4: Amelia
• Conference 5: Heartland
• Conference 6: Midlands
• Conference 7: Costal
• Conference 8: Saxe Gotha
• Conference 9: Western

Relationships

In addition to being a part of the ELCA and, by extension, a member of the Lutheran World Federation

Lutheran World Federation

The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran churches headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the...

, the South Carolina Synod is also a companion to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is the federation of Lutheran Churches in the African nation of Tanzania. In 1938, seven Lutheran churches founded a federation known as the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Tanganyika...

 and the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church

Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church

The or JELC is a Lutheran church in Japan. It currently has approximately 21,990 baptized members in 122 congregations nationwide.The current president of the JELC is the Rev Sumiyuki Watanabe.-Early history:...

.