The Rev. Harold S. Weiss of Allentown was installed as the first bishop of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Saturday in Hazleton.

The service marked the combination of three Lutheran church bodies into a single synod that will include 32 congregations in 14 counties, including Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill. A total of 190,450 worshippers will encompass the new synod, which combines the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church and the Association of Evangelical Churches.

The new bishop was installed by the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom of Chicago, the new national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.