The General Synod (officially known as the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of North America) was an association of Lutheran church bodies in America. The roots of the General Synod reach back to the Pennsylvania Ministerium, at whose suggestion the Synod was founded in 1820.
Under the leadership of Samuel Simon Schmucker, the General Synod founded the oldest continuously running Lutheran seminary and college in North America. Like many Protestant denominations, the General Synod was split over the issue of the Civil War, at which time the General Synod-South was founded. The General Synod further split over theological issues in 1867, at which time the General Council was formed by dissatisfied members of the General Synod.
