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 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