Southwestern Washington 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... :	Rev. Robert D. Hofstad
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
Congregations:	94
Mailing Address:	420 - 121st Street South Tacoma, WA 98444-5218
Official Website:	http://www.lutheranssw.org/

The Southwestern Washington Synod (ELCA) is a synod, or diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

, 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 southwestern part of the state of Washington and supports congregational mission throughout the region.

The Rev

The Reverend

The Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...

. Robert D. Hofstad is currently 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, with The Rev. Ron Hoyum and The Rev. Valinda Morse as his assistants. Bishop Hofstad 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 22 members elected from each of the 10 synodical geographic regions called conferences. There are ninety four Lutheran congregations in the synod.

The ELCA has partnered its synods with other regions throughout the world and the companion synod for Southwestern Washington is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN).