The Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (SELC) was an American Lutheran denomination that existed from 1902 to 1971. It merged with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) in 1971 and now operates as the non-geographic SELC District of that body.
History
In 1894, Slovak Lutheran immigrants in Pennsylvania formed a short-lived synod. Three conferences that stressed confessional Lutheran identity were later held in Wilkes-Barre (1899) and Braddock, Pennsylvania (1900 and 1902). As a result of these conferences, the denomination was founded at St. Peter's Church in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, on September 2–4, 1902, as the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in the United States of America (). At its origin, the denomination had ten clergymen and 15 congregations. Most congregations were composed of recent immigrants, and liturgies were usually conducted in Slovak. Those Slovak Lutherans who did not join the SELC eventually formed the Slovak Zion Synod in 1919, which is now part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The SELC was a founding member of the Lutheran Council in the United States of America, which began operations on January 1, 1967.
In 1971, during its convention held at Zion Lutheran Church in Clark, New Jersey, the SELC officially merged with the LCMS, becoming the SELC District, one of two non-geographic districts of the LCMS. The district retained the initials "SELC" in its name to mark its origins and heritage.
, the SELC District had 52 congregations in 11 U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces and had 13,876 baptized members and 11,239 communicants. The district's congregations are concentrated in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
Presidents of SELC
The SELC had ten presidents during its existence as an independent synod.
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! Year !! Pastors !! Congregations !! Members
|-
| 1925 || 31|| 59 || 6,534
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| 1929 || 36 || 60 || 8,206
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| 1935|| 39 || 55 || 16,500
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| 1939 || - || 63 || 22,458
|-
| 1942 || - || 61 || 22,424
|-
| 1943 || - || 60 || 22,186
|-
| 1946 || - || 56 || 20,866
|-
| 1949 || - || 64 || 21,211
|-
| 1950 || 58 || 59 || 18,870
|-
| 1951 || 54 || 59 || 20,244
|-
| 1952 || 7 || 59 || 20,562
|-
| 1955 || 49 || 58 || 16,474
|-
| 1957 || 58 || 59 || 18,003
|-
| 1958 || 56 || 59 || 19,931
|-
| 1960 || 59 || 54 || 8,531
|-
| 1961 || 57 || 50 || 19,802
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| 1962 || 57 || 53 || 19,184
|-
| 1964 || 63 || 65 || 21,656
|}