One-stop shop for your synodical communications needs! You'll find here basic contact information for the synod, links to important web pages, Facebook links, and other communications elements.

NOTICE: While you're here, be sure to subscribe to The Bishop's Roadshow.

Pre-Internet Communication

Phone

304-363-4030 (for both voice and SMS/text)

Mailing & Physical Address

West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod
℅ St. Paul Lutheran Church
309 Baldwin Street
Morgantown, WV 26505

Synod HQ Relocation

Synod HQ has moved from Fairmont to Morgantown. Our new location in the lower level of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Morgantown, WV. Synod Assembly 2019 had ordered Synod Council to review location and cost of the Synod HQ, but the timetable was accelerated when our landlord decided not to renew our lease, offering a different location in place of the Fairmont Avenue address. Well, if you are going to more, you are going to move. Multiple locations were investigated and a plan to move into shipping containers was considered. Morgantown seemed the best option primarily for the financial profile. We've downsized from 1190 sq. ft. to 360 sq. ft. with analogous savings, but we have also lost our dedicated conference room and the bishop's office (he is working from home and the road). We are still unpacking but open for business.

Fax

We dropped our fax line, which seemed to be good for little more than unsolicited solicitations. If you have a document that you would like us to receive, scan it to PDF and email it to us.

Internet Communication

Bishop's Roadshow

The Bishop's Roadshow is an e-newsletter published irregularly—in other words, if there is something that seems important to share, we send out a Roadshow.

The Bishop's Roadshow was moved to a new provider, Mailchimp^®. It was not been a smooth transition, but a move had to be made. The Roadshow had employed Yahoo! Groups^® for thirteen years, but Yahoo!^® discontinued that service on 15 December 2020.

In searching for a new platform, these are the things we looked for:

• subscriptions will not be used by the platform provide for marketing;
• folks can subscribe and unsubscribe themselves; and
  
• ease of use by synod staff.
  

By the way, his name is Freddie.

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Synod Website: WV-WMD.org

The West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod maintains a website with the URL, "WV-WMD.org."

Synod Website Updates

We've moved the list of updates to the WV-WMD.org to a page of its own. Click here (or on the pic at right) to find out what has been recently updated.

eMail

eMail Directory

Don't Fall for Spoofed eMails

At the beginning of July a spoof email went out under a poorly rendered version of the Bishop's name. Since then, we've received word that others are also being spoofed, including pastors of the synod and staffers of Camp Luther.

Typically, these spoofed emails attempt to solicit money, as you can see in the example provided.

Some things to note:

• +Riegel's middle initial is not "F"
• The synod sends email via its WV-WMD.org domain
• The adjective "reverend" requires a direct article when used as an honorific
  
• The Bishop is simply not going to solicit this way
  

Emily Pilat, Communications Director of the Virginia Synod, put it well,

In the past year this has happened with more frequency in synods and congregations across the ELCA.This is not a hack to our email system, but rather a common scam tactic. Often times, scammers like this can make convincing looking emails. The key is to look at the from address carefully to be sure it is from the individual it claims to be. This is especially important to stay vigilant as we are increasingly working remotely and rely on electronic communication.

The Southeastern Iowa Synod has put together a very nice flyer (in PDF) on how to spot email and texting-based scams. We recommend it. You can download it here.

Feel free, should you ever get something like this, to ask a challenge question, preferably one involving the Four Uses of the Law or the genera of the communicatio idiomatum.

Facebook

Pages

Groups

Synod Assembly