Mission Valley church leaves ECLA, area churches follow suit

Erica Rodriguez
June 25, 2010

Church members cried, argued and finally, after nine months of dissolving ties with the largestLutheran denomination in the country, the members of Zion Lutheran Church in Mission Valley believe they are home.

"When you have faith, it doesn't mean that things are easy." said Henry Wood, the church council president. "We're taking a step in the direction of what the church once was."

Ninety-five percent of the Zion Lutheran Church voted to sever ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in September, a month after the denomination approved a controversial social statement on same-sex relationships. the rest