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About the South Carolina Synod

We Lutherans in South Carolina are part of a church that shares a living, daring confidence in God’s grace — and there’s room for all here. Your questions, curiosity, passion and complexities are part of who you are, and you are a beloved child of the living God!

In the South Carolina Synod, we seek to respond to God’s love by loving him and serving the people he has created. There are ministries for – and with – all ages, not only in the state of South Carolina, but in many parts of the globe.

The South Carolina Synod is one of 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

People living within the synod territory

Baptized Lutherans in the South Carolina Synod

Congregations and worshipping communities

Companion partnerships with Lutheran Churches in Japan, Tanzania, and Colombia

Mission & Vision

God’s purpose for the people of the South Carolina Synod:

Joining neighbors, serving boldly, loving all, through Christ.

Our Four Missional Priorities:

Equip congregations to engage in their communities

Deepen discipleship

Engage congregations and the synod in addressing issues of education in their communities

Engage congregations and the synod in addressing issues of poverty in their communities.

What we teach

As members of the ELCA we confess the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In our preaching and teaching the we trust the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.

ELCA teaching or theology serves the proclamation and ministry of this faith. It does not have an answer for all questions, not even all religious questions. Teaching or theology prepares members to be witnesses in speech and in action of God’s rich mercy in Jesus Christ.

Scriptures, Creeds and Confessions

The ELCA’s official Confession of Faith identifies the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (commonly called the Bible); the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds; and the Lutheran confessional writings in the Book of Concord as the basis for our teaching. ELCA congregations make the same affirmation in their governing documents, and ELCA pastors promise to preach and teach in accordance with these teaching sources. This Confession of Faith is more than just words in an official document. Every Sunday in worship ELCA congregations hear God’s word from the Scriptures, pray as Jesus taught and come to the Lord’s Table expecting to receive the mercies that the Triune God promises. Throughout the week ELCA members continue to live by faith, serving others freely and generously in all that they do because they trust God’s promise in the Gospel. In small groups and at sick beds, in private devotions and in daily work, this faith saturates all of life.

Teaching for a life of faith

This connection to all of life is the clearest demonstration of the authority that the canonical Scriptures, the ecumenical Creeds and the Lutheran Confessions have in the ELCA. The Holy Spirit uses these witnesses to create, strengthen and sustain faith in Jesus Christ and the life we have in him. That life-giving work continues every day, as Martin Luther explained in the Small Catechism: the Holy Spirit “calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”

Constitution, Directory, Minutes, and Organization Chart

South Carolina Synod Constitution

As amended November 2023

Model Constitution for Congregations

The Model Constitution for Congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, like the other governing documents of this church, reflects the theology and polity of this church as it organizes itself to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, share the sacraments, reach out to the neighbor with good news and share the love of God in the world.

Amendments to the Model Constitution for Congregations

As approved by the 2022 Churchwide Assembly

Guide for the Use of the Model Constitution for Congregations

Prepared by the Office of the Secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America May 2017

Questions and Answers about the Model Constitution for Congregations

From the Constitution Committee of the South Carolina Synod

Directory

From the 2023 Synod Assembly

Directory and Minutes

From the 2023 Synod Assembly

Mission Partners

Get In Touch

This is Christ’s Church. There is a place for you here.

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 life of the world.

Contact Information

ELCA South Carolina Synod
1003 Richland Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Telephone 803-765-0590
Fax 803-252-5558

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