Connections to Ministry

Scroll down through the page (or use the navigation bar above) to connect with a ministry, find a congregation or pastor/church worker.

Find a Congregation

You can locate any congregation in the synod, get contact information, directions, a web address (for many of them), and detailed statistical data through the ELCA's search engine. You may search by distance from an entered zip code, by city, or by congregation name. Click here to get started.

Find a Pastor or Church Worker

You can also locate any pastor or lay leader in the ELCA through a different ELCA search engine, searching by name (even partial) or a variety of filters. Click here to get started.

Church Camps and Outdoor Ministry

Camp Luther, Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp and Retreat Center, and Camp Agapé, are three very different camps with very different missions, formats, facilities, and staffing configurations. The WV-WMD Synod is a constituent synod of the first two, and maintains communications with the third.

The WV-WMD Synod also supports scouting ministry. With the Summit Reserve, the host site for both the national and international Scout Jamborees on our territory, pastors and lay leaders are actively recruited to staff religious services.

We invite you to visit our dedicated page for church camping and outdoor ministries to learn more about these ministries.

Youth Ministry

Our primary vehicles for synodical youth ministry include our church camps, outdoor ministry, and Youth Gathering. We also hold periodic youth events. You can explore these offerings on our Youth page.

Church Colleges

Thiel College, an independent institution related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and established in Western Pennsylvania in 1866 as a co-educational institution, educates students in the liberal arts & sciences and professional studies for service to society. Thiel, located in Greenville, PA, is an accredited four-year, undergraduate institution. Visit on the web at https://www.thiel.edu/.

Campus Ministries

West Virginia University: WV-WMD supports the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU, the only "center-based" Lutheran campus ministry on the territory. The LCMWVU is currently staffed by Chaplains Ben and Courtney Erzkus. Visit on the web at http://LutheranMountaineer.org.

Potomac State College: WV-WMD also supports the work of Trinity Lutheran Church, Keyser, on the Potomac State College campus conducted in conjunction with Grace Methodist Church, Keyser. Both pastors spend time on campus, advise a student group, and serve as resources for the college.

Other Schools: Throughout the synod, local congregations and pastors situated near institutions of higher education are available for pastoral care and worship, service, educational, and fellowship opportunities. Use the "Find-a-Congregation" button above to make a connection.

Seminaries

WV-WMD is a designated constituent synod of United Lutheran Seminary. Following Philadelphia Seminary's merger into Gettysburg Seminary, the seminary was rebranded under the ULS moniker. With campuses in both Gettysburg and Philadelphia, the seminary is aligned with the synods of both Region 7 and Region 8 of the ELCA.  The Gettysburg campus, the closest to our synod, sits atop Seminary Ridge on the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg, PA. The oldest continually functioning site of Lutheran theological education in the Western Hemisphere, it still trains pastors for the ordained office and lay professional ministers as well as educating students for academic degrees. Located on the seminary campus is the Seminary Ridge Museum, an educational facility housed in the Old Dorm, a building which saw service as a hospital during and after the battle. Open to the public, the museum tells the story of battle, hospital work, and reconciliation. Visit the seminary on the web at http://www.uls.edu/.

Social Ministries

Community Lutheran Partners, Inc., a  501(c)(3) nonprofit Social Ministry Organization, was formed in 2002 to facilitate social ministry development on the territory by enabling and supporting the congregations of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod to reach out in service to their neighbor. CLP engages in a wide variety of service activities, ranging from food relief to disaster response. You can also visit on Facebook. If you do not have Facebook and would like to get connected, contact the synod office.

You may also visit our dedicated page for social ministries that includes information about our military ministries and our racial justice team.

WELCA

The synodical women's organization is part of the National Women of the ELCA. Congregational units dot the territory. An annual synodical convention is held as well as regular conference level events. The WV-WMD WELCA do not maintain a website, but they are on Facebook as a group under the WV-WMD Synod page, the group name being West Virginia - Western Maryland WELCA. If you are not on Facebook and would like to connected with WV-WMD WELCA, contact the synod office.