The Southern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is an organization which coordinates the work of 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...

 congregations in southern Ohio. The Southern Ohio Synod is one of the ELCA's 65 synods.

The synod is governed by the synod council throughout the year. The synod clergy, associates in ministry, deacons, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and two representatives from each congregation meet each year at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio for synod assembly. Wittenberg University is one of twenty-six universities and colleges of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

"The Southern Ohio Synod equips congregations to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ by providing ecumenical resources, support services and programs that build and sustain healthy congregations.http://www.southernohiosynod.org

Leadership

Synods of the ELCA are headed by a 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...

. The current bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod is Callon W. Holloway, Jr.