The Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a synod, or diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...

 (ELCA). The synod consists of all the congregations within its territory which is the eastern metropolitan Twin Cities. The synod is headed by a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

, currently the Reverend Peter Rogness , and a synodical council. The bishop is elected to a six year term by the synod assembly which meets every year and consists of all "rostered" ministers assigned to the synod and lay representatives from each congregation.

The synod was created as the East Metropolitan Minnesota Synod when the ELCA was formed in 1988 as a result of the merger between the ALC

American Lutheran Church

The American Lutheran Church was a Christian Protestant denomination in the United States that existed from 1960 to 1987. Its headquarters was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon its formation in 1960, the ALC designated Augsburg Publishing House , also located in Minneapolis, as the church publisher...

, AELC

Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches was a U.S. church body that existed from 1976 through the end of 1987. The AELC formed when approximately 250 dissident congregations withdrew from the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in 1976, and ended as an independent body when it became part...

 and LCA

Lutheran Church in America

The Lutheran Church in America was a U.S. and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press....

. It later changed its name to the present form.

The synod's offices are located at 105 University Ave. West, Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 55103.

Bishops

• Rev. Lowell Erdahl 1988-1995
• Rev. Mark Hanson
  Mark Hanson
  Mark S. Hanson is the third and current Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Before being elected presiding bishop, he served as bishop of the Saint Paul Area Synod...
  
  1995-2001
• Rev. Paul Werger 2001-2002 (interim Bishop)
• Rev. Peter Rogness 2002-