Alaska Synod (ELCA)
Bishop Bishop A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the... :	Don Maier [Interim]
Affiliation:	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... Region 1
Members:	10,475 (baptized)
Congregations:	31
Mailing Address:	1847 W. Northern Lights #2 Anchorage, AK 99517
Official Website:	http://www.elcaalaska.net/

The Alaska Synod (ELCA) is a synod 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...

 (ELCA). It encompasses the state of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and supports congregational mission throughout the region.

Pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 Don Maier is the interim bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the synod. He also serves as an officer of the synod council which is the governing body of the synod between assemblies. It is composed of the Bishop and 18 members elected from each of the 5 synodical geographic regions called clusters. There are thirty-one Lutheran congregations in the synod. In addition, there is three Ministry sites and a boat, the MV Christian in southeastern Alaska.

The ELCA has partnered its synods with other regions throughout the world and the companion synod for Alaska is the Eastern North Dakota Synod (ELCA).