U.S. Lutherans dig in heels

(ENS)-Lutheran opponents to a plan for full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church, say the plan threatens Lutheran identity.

About 400 delegates from 21 states gathered in St. Paul, Minn., last November to organize as Word Alone, arguing that acceptance of the historic episcopate by Lutherans, a major point in the plan passed by the ELCA last summer, contradicts the doctrine that the word of God and proper administration of the sacraments are sufficient for salvation.