Bordered in large part by the Mississippi, Wabash, and Ohio Rivers, the Central/Southern Illinois Synod covers approximately two-thirds of the state of Illinois. Our 120 congregations bear the good news, hope, and peace of Jesus Christ in small cities, small towns, and rural areas, surrounded by farmland, forests, rolling hills, rivers, and wetlands.
The Central/Southern Illinois Synod is one of 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA is a church of about 4 million members across the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, who actively participate in God’s work in the world. We believe that by God’s grace, Jesus Christ has freed us from sin’s grasp, and that we live reconciled with God and one another, together praising God, following Jesus, and loving our neighbor.
The Central/Southern Illinois Synod welcomes pastors to consider serving congregations within our synod. In recent years, the synod has expanded its adult faith formation classes to be available by Zoom video conferencing and the New and Renewing Congregations Committee has sponsored a synod-wide mission trip to one of our synod congregations. Within the bounds of the C/SIS, there are more than 20 colleges and universities and 37 state parks, as well as the Shawnee National Forest, the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site, and other wildlife and recreational areas. Every congregation of C/SIS is no more than three hours away from Chicago, St. Louis, and/or Indianapolis, allowing for a wide range of sports, arts, educational, and recreational activities.