Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church
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The Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in the U.S.A (Slovensk-evanjelická augsburgského vyznania celocirkev v Spojenych státoch americkych) was an American Protestant Christian denomination that existed from 1902 to 1971. In 1971 it merged with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, and it now operates as a non-geographic district of that body.
The denomination was founded by Slovak Lutheran immigrants in Connellsville, Pennsylvania on September 2, 1902. At its origin, the denomination had ten clergymen and 15 congregations. Most congregations were composed of recent immigrants, and liturgies were usually conducted in the Slovak language.
By 1959, the use of Slovak as a primary liturgical language had died out and the denomination was renamed the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
In 1971 during it's convention held at Zion Lutheran Church in Clark, NJ, the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches officially merged with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod with whom it had always been a partner. The SELC became a non-geographic district of the LCMS. As a part of the LCMS, the SELC could no longer be considered a "synod," thus it is officially known as the SELC District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The district retained the initials "SELC" to mark its origins and heritage.
Today, as part of the LCMS, the SELC District oversees 55 congregations in 11 US states and 2 Canadian provinces and has nearly 18,000 baptized members and over 13,000 communicants. The district is strongest in the Northeastern United States and the Midwest.
