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 areas of production. Maine is ranked ninth for aquaculture, and has abundant potato fields in its northeast part. Vermont is fifteenth for dairy products, and Connecticut and Massachusetts seventh and eleventh for tobacco, respectively. Cranberries are grown in Massachusetts' Cape Cod-Plymouth-South Shore area, and blueberries in Maine. The region is mostly energy-efficient compared to the U.S. at large, with every state but Maine ranking within the ten most energy-efficient states; every state in New England also ranks within the ten most expensive states for electricity prices. As of January 2017, employment is stronger in New England than in the rest