"Therefore the bishop has the power of the order, i.e., the ministry of Word and sacraments; he also has the power of jurisdiction, i.e., the authority to excommunicate those guilty of open crimes, and again to absolve them if they are converted and seek absolution." (Apology XXVIII) In June 2006, the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (ELDoNA) was organized by a group of confessional Lutheran pastors serving independent congregations who were alarmed by the lack of faithful doctrine and practice manifest in the existing synods in North America. The founding pastors of the diocese...