Church leaves the fold: Lutheran beliefs stray, pastor says
Fargo's Atonement Lutheran Church is leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. By a vote of 211 to 14, Atonement's congregation confirmed on Sunday an earlier decision to secede from the 17-year-old Lutheran organization. The 1,500-member congregation has been distancing itself from the ELCA for years, because it is becoming more hierarchical in structure and less traditional in beliefs than members prefer, said the Rev. ... [...]