Religious leaders doubt there will ever be one church for all Christians.
Churches agree to work together on their own terms.
One of those breakaway churches was St. Luke Evangelical Church in Traer, Iowa. We feel the ELCA is attempting to be everything to everyone, which is nothing to anyone. Some Lutherans say they cannot sacrifice doctrine. For Martin Luther and other reformers, the peddling of indulgences to reduce punishment after death due to sin, was one of the ways the Catholic Church fostered the illusion that people could be saved by their own merits. By grace alone, in faith in Christ's work, and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while calling us to good works.