Synod Website Updates

The synod website updates frequently (as in often) and irregularly (as in not on a particular schedule). Click here (or on the picture at right) to find out what has been recently updated.

Catching Up with CLPi and What It Is Doing

First Lutheran, Parkersburg, is hosting a conversation (in-person and by Zoom) with Dn. Mary Sanders, Executive Director of Community Lutheran Partners, Inc., on Thursday, 20 March 2025, at 6:00 p.m. Learn about the work CLPi does regularly and what they are doing for the recent flood victims in southern West Virginia. Sanders will also address how churches can help and how you individually can make a difference. For details, including Zoom link, visit our Social Ministry page.

Requiescat in pace: Thomas T. Mackey

Thomas T. Mackey, father to The Rev. Kevin Mackey, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Huntington, WV, died Tuesday night, 11 March 2025. Visitation and funeral will be held Saturday, 22 March 2025, in Urbana, OH. Details on funeral and link to full obituary are posted on our Clergy page.

Synod Assembly Registration Open!

Registration is now open for Synod Assembly 2025! Synod Assembly will convene 31 May 2025 in Morgantown, WV. Click here for details and registration.

Reporting and Exhibiting Deadline: April 7

Reports to Synod Assembly and applications for exhibit space are due April 7. Click to access guidelines for both and to make submissions.

• Reports
• Exhibits

Resolutions & Memorials

Though the deadline is not until May 11, it is wise to make submissions well in advance. Click here for rules and procedures related to resolutions and memorials.

Proposed Constitutional Amendments Before Synod Assembly 2025

Synod Assembly will consider amendments to the Constitution of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod. Six-month notice was given per the rules, but we repost them here.

Proposed Amendments to Governing Documents Before Churchwide Assembly 2025

Bach Lalapalooza

• Concerto for Three Harpsicords,
• Cantata 147 (Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring), and
• The Seasonings by P.D.Q. Bach

Worship Discipline for Lent

Fasting is probably the best known of the Lenten disciplines in popular culture, but there are also liturgical disciplines related to the design of worship and the appointments of the worship space, some well-known, some more esoteric. Visit our Worship page for details.

Works of Love: Bishop's Lenten Book Study

Listening with Love: Foundations of Pastoral Care

"Listening with Love" is designed to equip faith leaders (both lay and clergy) with practical skills and perspectives to provide Christ centered, compassionate, effective pastoral care with those in congregations and communities who are struggling: from trauma, health issues, mental illness, loss, financial issues, addiction, etc. Co-taught by The Rev. Marti Steiner Unger, RCP, and Rev. Dr. John R. Unger II, RCP, on March 22 at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Oakland, MD, the event is open to both laity and clergy. For more information, visit our Education for Clergy & Laity page.

Requiescat in pace: The Rev. Mary Prather

The synod has learned of the death of The Rev. Mary Prather late in the evening of 24 February 2025. Prather served as pastor of the the Trinity-St. Matthew Parish south of Wheeling. Funeral plans are not yet fixed. It is expected to be held in Hagerstown in June or July. When details become available, they will be posted on the Clergy page.

WV Winter Flood

Community Lutheran Partners, Inc., is already working with WV VOAD to address the flooding in our synod's territory. Visit our Social Ministry page for her update of 21 February 2025.

Bishop Interviewed by The Living Church

The Living Church, in its 13 February 2025 podcast installment, "Reformation, Politics, and Friendship with Matthew Riegel," interviewed Bishop Riegel in a conversation that covered a variety of topics.

The Living Church Foundation describes itself as "a ministry of unity that champions the catholic and evangelical faith by supporting and resourcing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion through our publications, programs, and products." The Living Church Foundation was founded in 1878 and is governed by members of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion.

UOVC Invites to Holy Tuesday Chrism Mass

The Upper Ohio Valley Conference will hold a chrism mass on Holy Tuesday, 15 April 2025, 11:00 a.m., hosted by Holy Trinity Lutheran Church & First English Lutheran Church at 3536 Eoff St., Wheeling, WV. A clergy luncheon to follow. All three oils (IO, OC, and SC) will be prepared . Clergy (or congregational agents sent to secure the oils) should bring their own vessels. Clergy (and congregational agents delegated to secure the oils) should RSVP to The Rev. Sean Smith, UOVC Dean, at onearmtheologian@yahoo.com. Additionally, clergy should also RSVP for the luncheon.

Church Camp

Applications for staff positions are being accepted for Caroline Furnace, Camp Luther, and Camp Agapé. Summer program information is also available for all three camps.

Additionally, the Lutheran Summer Music Academy is accepting registration. Deadline is March 1.

Visit our Camping & Outdoor Ministries page for more information.

Parochial Reports

Call Openings

We have one MSP active at the moment. We also have some settings in which a call could be considered without an active MSP. On top of that, there is potential for contract appointments. With several clergy vacancies across the territory, there are opportunities for clergy interested in serving in the WV-WMD Synod. Visit the clergy page to find out what's available (or will be available once the MSP is completed).

If you haven't checked out the members portal...

Don't forget to take a peek of the members portal (click the button at right near the top of this page). It's not password protected. We only call it the "members portal" because it's mostly stuff that deals with the internal workings of the synod. Visitors looking for more general information about the synod, will probably find the "guest portal" more interesting.