New England Synod offices in Worcester, Massachusetts at 20 Upland Street. Bishop Jim Hazelwood is currently serving his first term as Bishop of the New England Synod. New England Synod The New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a jurisdictional synod (similar to a diocese in the Roman Catholic or Episcopal churches), consisting of all of the New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont), as well as the Lake Champlain area of eastern New York state. It is one of the 65 synods of the ELCA in North America. The ELCA is divided
New England state to state, primarily due to settlers throughout the region having named their new towns after their old ones. For example, the town of North Yarmouth, Maine was named by settlers from Yarmouth, Massachusetts, which was in turn named for Great Yarmouth in England. As another example, every New England state has a town named Warren, and every state except Rhode Island has a city or town named Andover, Bridgewater, Chester, Franklin, Manchester, Plymouth, Washington, and Windsor; in addition, every state except Connecticut has a Lincoln and a Richmond, and Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine each contains a Franklin County. There