Welcome to Our Synod
We are glad you found this site and welcome you to learn about the ministries of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod. Perhaps you are looking for a church home. Perhaps you are here to find information as a leader or congregation. Whether you’re here for a specific reason or just curious, you are welcome here.
As the ELCA professes, we are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person—questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God’s work in Christ’s name for the sake of the world.
Installation worshipers fill St. James Cathedral with music, hope & joy
Under the theme verse “The one hope of your calling” (Eph. 4:4), nearly 500 worshipers filled St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago Saturday, Sept. 19, for the installation of Bishop Erik Christensen. The service and reception were a labor of love from the synod, with more than 100 names listed in the bulletin as participants and planners of the service. In subsequent days, more than 1,000 had also watched the livestream.
ELCA Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry preached and presided. Bishop Paula Clark of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago gave a welcome, and Bishop G.A. Seane of the synod’s companion, the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa, brought a greeting and gift.
Seane and four other ELCA bishops offered scriptural charges. Readers, intercessors, communion assistants and greeters/ushers were chosen to reflect not only important relationships with Bishop Erik, but partnerships, welcome/hospitality and feeding ministries of the synod. Keith “Doc” Hampton of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago directed the music that included an installation choir, soloists, brass and a gospel band.
Bishop Curry spoke to both the new bishop and the synod, to whom he said, “…seven years ago, at our last installation, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton said words that have stayed with me. ‘We need to support this bishop.’ Those words stayed with me because you did. And today I offer those words back to you: ‘Church, we need to support this bishop. Pray for Bishop Erik. Walk with him and encourage him. Because this ministry does not belong to one bishop. It does not belong to one congregation. This is Christ’s church.’”
Bishop Erik received an extended standing ovation after Curry presented him to the assembly following the installation. He responded with heartfelt remarks about his own full and grateful heart. “…My heart is filled with wonder at what God has done and continues to do in us, and for us, and through us. My heart is filled with hope for Christ’s church here and now…”
Region 5 Boundaries Education Day is Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Augsburg Room of the churchwide office. The day begins with registration at 8:30 a.m.; the hybrid learning session with other Region 5 synods is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mindful of all the increasing costs congregations are facing, the cost has been reduced to $25 per participant! Those who registered early and at the $100 price will be reimbursed the difference. Register using the button below, but not until next Tuesday when the form can be changed to reflect the new fee.
*Rostered ministers are strongly encouraged to complete regular boundaries education. This is the third in a series of three education sessions with Region 5.
Boundaries Education Thursday, November 5th
Who We Are
The Metropolitan Chicago Synod (MCS) is made up of 148 congregations and nine Synod Authorized Worshiping Communities (SAWC). We are both urban and suburban, with 60,805 baptized members in four counties: Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake. We are one of 65 synods in the ELCA.
Our mission statement calls us to proclaim the gospel, make disciples and do justice in Jesus’ name. We hope the images and information on these pages will introduce you to our synod—our faith and values, ministries and events. These pages are filled with practical information for congregations and leaders, and will help you become familiar with the synod staff and governance.
Get connected to the MCS by signing up for publications and following us on social media.
As a synod, our work focuses on supporting and partnering with our congregations.
Lay and clergy, find resources that will assist you in the work to which God has called you.
God’s work takes many and various forms. Learn about the ministries of our synod.
Our Stories
Good News Garage
They came from a country in the middle of Africa to a city in the middle of America. Husband, wife and four sons, ages 20, 15, 8 and 5. They have been here since January and during the summer were finally settling into their apartment. The oldest son needed a bike for his full-time work and the 15-year-old needed transportation for his after-school job. The younger boys just needed bikes to be kids.
It started with Seeds
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Northbrook helped area folks usher in the summer by hosting their fourth annual Native Plant Fest on the last Saturday morning of May. More than 100 people from the community browsed tables of plants that had been nursed by members throughout the winter in their gallon plastic milk jugs.
Irving Park pantry and congregation build new pantry with $1 million grant
The Irving Park Community Food Pantry, which Irving Park Lutheran Church (IPLC) has long supported and is intentionally partnering with to help identify a potential new space, in early summer received news of a $1,035,617 grant from the City of Chicago. The grant may be used to reimburse half the cost of construction of a new facility for the pantry, to be built on land owned by IPLC and adjacent to the church.
Metropolitan Chicago Synod Office
Ph: 773-248-0021 | Address: 1420 W. Dickens Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614