New England District (LCMS) New England District (LCMS) The New England District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), and encompasses all six New England states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. In addition, three in southwest Connecticut are in the non-geographic SELC District. The New England District includes approximately 70 congregations and missions, subdivided into 9 circuits, as well as 24 preschools and 5 elementary schools. Baptized membership is over 22,000; with New England's total population standing at 14,240,000 as of 2005, the District's membership represents only 0.16% of the local population – the lowest
New England Penobscot River in Maine. The Narragansetts and smaller tribes under their sovereignty lived in Rhode Island, west of Narragansett Bay, including Block Island. The Wampanoag occupied southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The Pocumtucks lived in Western Massachusetts, and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes lived in the Connecticut region. The Connecticut River Valley linked numerous tribes culturally, linguistically, and politically. As early as 1600, French, Dutch, and English traders began exploring the New World, trading metal, glass, and cloth for local beaver pelts. On April 10, 1606, King James I of England issued a