Press/Media Info
The Slovak Zion Synod is one of 65 synods that together form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Our Synod is non-georgaphic: We are rooted in our mission, and identify ourselves in the work we do in God’s name. Our ministries are spread across many areas, including New England, New York City, New Jersey, Upstate New York, the coal regions of Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes, the greater Chicago area, as well as in Ontario.
Our Synod was founded by Slovak immigrants in 1919 as the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Zion Synod. We later joined the United Lutheran Church in America, as a synod in that Lutheran Church body. We followed the ULCA when it merged in 1962 into the Lutheran Church in America, and again when the LCA merged into the present-day ELCA in 1987. We remain as a non-geographic synod in the ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in North America.
Over those decades, we’ve transitioned from a Synod of Slovak immigrants, into a Synoddefined by its mission to the Slovak region while it was under communist oppression, and today into a Synod that defines itself by the good work we do in God’s name.
Our 30 congregations are greatly diverse, from rural country churches to inner-city churches, and many community ministries, with multiple sites. We worship in many languages, and join together with one common mission:
