The Delaware-Maryland 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...

 is the geographical synod consisting of the entire state of Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 and most of the state of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, with the exception of the counties surrounding Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, and extreme western Maryland.

With its office in suburban Baltimore, Maryland, the synod encompasses two states with totally different histories; Maryland, a primarily Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 colony, and Delaware, originally part of 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 primarily Quaker and Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

. Both states supplied militia in the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 and as so-called border states

Border states (Civil War)

In the context of the American Civil War, the border states were slave states that did not declare their secession from the United States before April 1861...

 in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, were allowed to keep slaves, while fighting alongside of Union forces. Both states ended segregation in the 1950s, ironic for residents of Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

 who lived just 30 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, who had no slaves or segregation policies since the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

The synod corresponds to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore as well as Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington Counties in Maryland...

, the oldest Catholic metropolitan in the U.S., as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington

Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington

-External links:**...

, the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware

Episcopal Diocese of Delaware

The Episcopal Diocese of Delaware is one of 108 dioceses making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It consists of 38 congregations or Parishes in an area the same as the State of Delaware...

, and the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland forms part of Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the northern and central Maryland counties of Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, and Washington...

. The Synod also supports 1 Outdoor Ministry site (Mar-Lu-Ridge Summer Camp and Education and Conference Center

Mar-Lu-Ridge Summer Camp and Education and Conference Center

Mar-Lu-Ridge Summer Camp and Education and Conference Center is an outdoor ministry site of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America located in Jefferson, Maryland. Mar-Lu-Ridge, an abbreviation for either Martin Luther or Maryland Lutheran, sits atop a mountain in the Catoctin Mountain range...

)