The Northern Illinois District is one of the 35 districts of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), and covers the northern third of the state of Illinois, including the Chicago metropolitan area; the rest of the state is divided between the Central Illinois District and the Southern Illinois District. In addition, 26 congregations in the Chicago area (20 of them in the city itself) are in the non-geographic English District, and five congregations in Northern Illinois (including one in Chicago) are in the SELC District. The Northern Illinois District includes approximately 226 congregations and missions, subdivided into 28 circuits, as well as 54 preschools, 67 elementary schools and 9 high schools. Baptized membership in district congregations is approximately 127,000.