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.
Rev. Dr. Moses Barrios (el/he) Assistant to the Bishop, Metro DC Synod, ELCA
The Rev. Dr. Moses D. Barrios is an Indigenous Mayan minister, son of Central American immigrants, born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Having served numerous intersectional and inclusive congregations in Southern California, Northern California, and Hawaiʻi, he now serves as Assistant to the Bishop in the Metropolitan DC Synod ELCA and as Pastor of St. Matthew in Southwest Washington, D.C. He also leads the ELCA’s Multiethnic and Intersectional Network, guiding national lay and rostered leaders, synodical and Churchwide leaders in cultivating a church that is warmer, more inviting, making room for true belonging that better reflects the diversity of God’s people.
Pastor Moses received both his graduate and post-graduate degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. His doctoral project titled, “Confronting the Lack of Racial Unity in the American Christian Church,” is the passion behind his ministry work. His other theological and biblical studies derive from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (P.L.T.S.) in Berkeley, CA, The Hispanic Center for Theological Studies (C.H.E.T.) an affiliate of North Park Theological Seminary in Compton, CA and Chicago, IL and Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, MN. He is an Ordained Roster Minister of Word and Sacrament with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
A prophetic preacher and public theologian, Moses is deeply committed to justice, inclusion, reconciliation, healing, liberation, and congregational transformation, empowering communities to participate in Christ’s renewing and liberating work in the world.
He is married to his wife and ministry partner, Brenda, and together they are the proud parents of three young adult children who attend college in the Bronx, NY and work in Northern VA.
