Connections to Ministry
Scroll down through the page (or use the navigation bar
above) to connect with a ministry, find a congregation or
pastor/church worker.
Find
a Congregation
You can locate any congregation in the synod, get contact
information, directions, a web address (for many of them),
and detailed statistical data through the ELCA's search
engine. You may search by distance from an entered zip
code, by city, or by congregation name. For an interactive
map showing the position of our congregations, click
here.
Find a Pastor
or Church Worker
You can also locate any pastor or lay leader in the ELCA
through a different ELCA search engine, searching by name
(even partial) or a variety of filters.
Church Camps
WV-WMD supports two church camps.
Camp
Luther, located in Webster County, WV, has operated
for 75 years. It may be unique in ELCA church camping in
that it is in session only one week out of the year
(invariably beginning on Fathers' Day), hosting campers
from 3rd grade through 12thin three camping departments
(junior, intermediate, and senior). Camp Luther rents Camp
Caesar, the Webster County 4-H camp. Its counseling and
program staff is entirely volunteer lay persons and
pastors. Visit on the web at http://camplutherwv.com/.
Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp and
Retreat Center, located in Fort Valley, VA, offers
year round services with several weeks of camping programs
in the summer, including specialty camps, and retreat
facilities in the winter. Visit on the web at http://www.carolinefurnace.org/.
Church Colleges
Thiel
College, an independent institution related to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and established in
Western Pennsylvania in 1866 as a co-educational
institution, educates students in the liberal arts &
sciences and professional studies for service to society.
Thiel, located in Greenville, PA, is an accredited
four-year, undergraduate institution. Visit on the web at
https://www.thiel.edu/.
Campus Ministries
West Virginia University: WV-WMD
supports the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU, the only
"center-based" Lutheran campus ministry on the territory.
The LCMWVU has a reputation for a vigorous intellectual
life informed by the Lutheran Confessions and a marked
liturgical piety. Normally staffed by a full-time,
ordained campus pastor, the LCMWVU is currently in a
search process, the previous campus pastor leaving to
assume the office of bishop. Visit on the web at http://LutheranMountaineer.org.
Potomac State College: WV-WMD also supports the
work of Trinity Lutheran Church, Keyser, on the Potomac
State College campus conducted in conjunction with Grace
Methodist Church, Keyser. Both pastors spend time on
campus, advise a student group, and serve as resources for
the college.
Other Schools: Throughout the synod, local
congregations and pastors situated near institutions of
higher education are available for pastoral care and
worship, service, educational, and fellowship
opportunities. Use the "Find-a-Congregation" button above
to make a connection.
Seminaries
WV-WMD is a designated constituent synod of United
Lutheran Seminary. Following Philadelphia Seminaries'
merger into Gettysburg Seminary, the seminary was
rebranded under the ULS moniker. With campuses in both
Gettysburg and Philadelphia, the seminary is aligned with
the synods of both Region 7 and Region 8 of the
ELCA. The Gettysburg campus, the closest to our
synod, sits atop Seminary Ridge on the Civil War
battlefield at Gettysburg, PA. The oldest continually
functioning sight of Lutheran theological education in the
Western Hemisphere, it still trains pastors for the
ordained office and lay professional ministers as well as
educating students for academic degrees. Located on the
seminary campus is the Seminary Ridge Museum, an
educational facility housed in the Old Dorm, a building
which saw service as a hospital during and after the
battle. Open to the public, the museum tells the story of
battle, hospital work, and reconciliation. Visit the
seminary on the web at http://www.uls.edu/.
Social Ministries
WV-WMD
supports three ministries that follow in the footsteps of
the Inner Mission movement.
Community Lutheran Partners, Inc., a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit Social Ministry Organization, was formed in 2002
to facilitate social ministry development on the territory
by enabling and supporting the congregations of the West
Virginia-Western Maryland Synod to reach out in service to
their neighbor. CLP
engages in a wide variety of service activities, ranging
from food relief to disaster response. Click here for the
CLP
website. You can also visit on on Facebook.
Additionally, WV-WMD supports the work of Glade Run
Lutheran Services and Lutheran Senior Life.
WELCA
The synodical women's organization is part of the
National Women of the ELCA. Congregational units dot the
territory. An annual synodical convention is held as well
as regular conference level events. To lean more, visit: https://www.lutheransonline.com/lo/085/FSLO-1449358085-111085.pdf
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