synod leaders

The Rev. Dr. Philip C. Hirsch is the bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He began serving a six year term on September 1, 2025.

Rev. Hirsch previously served as Executive Director of Domestic Mission and Christian Community and Leadership in the ELCA (2019-2025) where he led national and international ministries including leadership, new church starts, the Directors for Evangelical Mission, discipleship, the national youth gathering, Young Adults in Global Mission, candidacy, stewardship, (and previously) ethnic specific ministries, domestic Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Response, and Advocacy .

Prior to his role at the churchwide offices, he served as the Director for Evangelical Mission in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod (2009-2019); pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fairfax, VA (1999-2019) and pastor of Christus and Epiphany Lutheran Churches, Camden, NJ (1990-1999). Rev. Hirsch earned a B.A. from Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove PA; a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and Violence Prevention from United Theological in Dayton, Ohio. He is an Ella and Henry Mitchell Fellow.

He and his wife, Dana are the proud parents of three sons.