The New REFORMATION of CHRISTIANITY [IC, Open]

[Zjaum]

THE NEW REFORMATION

OOC

Prologue: Murmurs in the Dark

Doctor Egilson adjusted his tie as he stared at the television camera in front of him. He was used to speaking in front of crowds, but this felt… different, in a way. He’s had to defend his faith against many skeptics and met with success, at least, so he believed. He just was never… grilled. He patted down his suit. There was nothing to fear. God was on his side, as he was on His. His will be done, whatever the next fifteen minutes would hold.

“…And to weigh in on the controversy, we have Reverend Doctor Phillip Egilson from Loomis Reformed Church and Pastor Doug Williams of Grand Rapids Reformed Church. Nice to have you two on!”

Egilson put on a happy face, but he was groaning inside. He wasn’t expecting an additional voice, let alone one of his biggest critics. “Looking forward to rational discussion.”

Pastor Williams smiled quaintly. “Same.”

The host briefly glanced at her notes before continuing. “Now, Doctor Egilson, your video this past week has had an international impact, reaching over half a billion views. We have new movements from Ireland, Russia, Ethiopia… did you ever expect something to have such a major effect?”

Such was the nature of viral videos, madam. “Well, I never expect much. I know that if God likes what I say, then He’ll carry it far past my capabilities.” The words he spoke aloud countered his thoughts, and he took a brief moment in contemplation, too quick for the camera to notice. “Besides, most of the reactions around the world don’t represent views that I necessarily agree with. I’d say that I more uncovered things.”

“I think that’s the perfect word: 'uncovered.' I think God wanted it to be brought to light, not necessarily proclaimed,” responded the pastor, with equal eloquence. “I’m a big believer of transparency. There are few things harder to rectify than undisclosed sin. Just last week, I was notified of this church in my home state that publicly claimed that Jesus wasn’t entirely perfect! Now we’re finally able to have this discussion in the open.”

“Wait, sorry, in what way was my video a sin?” Phil probably shouldn’t have said that.
“Well, we can start with…”


Both Egilson and Williams were near shouting at this point, the hostess long since lost control over the debate. Williams retorted. “The simple fact of the matter is that rules come down to loving Jesus and loving others! Simple as that!”

“Yes, sure! HOW do we love the Lord? By learning more about Him! By looking at the world He gave us with a critical eye!”
“That’s not love!”
“Oh, so you’re the arbiter now for what is and isn’t love?”
“We have to go to comm-“
“I know a damn lot more than you do, that’s for sure!”
“Oh, beep off!”
“Charmin presents their all-new quadruple-ply toilet paper! Quadruple ply… It makes everything feel that much smoother!”

Egilson felt his face. There was sweat, and he could have sworn he felt a vein popping out. Eh, oh well. It went about as good as he could have expected, especially given the most recent twist. He thanked the news crew and reentered his car. He had a lot of steam he wanted to blow, and his own personal blog looked quite nice about now.


Mr. Judson turned off the television and addressed the head staff in the room. “All right, folks. This is why we have two hundred personal requests to pick a side. Does that answer your question, Rachel?”

Rachel, the intern at the far end of the desk, solemnly nodded. “So, couldn’t we just try and build a platform of unity?”

Jedediah Judson sat down at the table. “You see, Rachel, trying to downplay the situation will make us look like we support the status quo. Status quo means that we lose half of our audience, and none of us are left with jobs. No. Any other ideas?”

The man to Judson’s left shrugged. “Look, we already had a lineup planned months in advance. Let’s move on that, and hope that this all blows over. If it doesn’t, then at least we’ll have had time to prepare. They can’t blame us for being slow on the draw.”

Judson looked out the window to see a few silent protesters already at their doorstep. “I dearly hope you’re right about that."

[Camelone]

Mass had concluded for the day only a few hours ago and Bishop Sinclair Kenton was sitting in the meeting hall of his church surrounded by two other bishops, priests, monks, and a deacon or two, all members of the same group and all representing their parishes and communities, it had been a long day of argumentation and debate on how to continue, the Episcopalian Church was a sick institutions having abandoned the Lord for their own vanity and the respect of men. They have received their worldly reward but how was the faithful to proceed, it pained Sinclair to contribute anymore to the fracturing of the Body of Christ but it had to be done. He could only pray that this would wake up those within the Church to change, a rebellion to wake them up to the discontent that they were feeling.

Standing from his chair Sinclair raised his hands to quiet down the debate "We have spoken to long now is the time to vote. Those who are in favor of ratifying the charter of the Synod of True Anglicans raise your hands."

A vast majority of hands rose.

"Those against?"

The minority raised their hands in defeat.

"It is decided then. I shall deliver our letter to the Episcopal Church informing them of our decision, God be with us."

"God be with us."

With that the meeting hall began to empty except for one of Sinclair's fellow bishops and close friend Bishop Peter Anderson.

"You know I can not follow through with this Sinclair, right?"

With a sigh Sinclair approached him "Yes I am well aware of that Peter. I do think this is for the best of the Church as a whole."

Shaking his head with a chuckle Peter responded "I do not think it is ever warranted to break the Body of Christ, we should stay and be bulwarks of the true faith within the Church but I know I can not change your mind Primate Sinclair."

"Take care Bishop Peter. God be with you."

"And with you my dear friend, and with you." With that Sinclair watched his close friend leave.

[Talchyon]

Pomona's Tavern
Modesto, California
Rev. Martin Tiedrich

With one hand holding a lit Macanudo cigar, and the other clutching a half-full glass of scotch, the bulky man holding them was enjoying life. They were in the outdoor section of Pomona's, their typical joint, which was the designated smoking area. An almost empty pitcher of microbrew beer sat on the table in front of him, as he was surrounded by a good number of other men. Most other patrons gave them a glance, but the man enjoying life could care less. He always wore his clerical collar on days when it was C.L.C.S. And most other times, too.

It was a Thursday, and not just any Thursday, but the 4th Thursday of the month. And that meant that the California Lutherans for Confessional Study had just had their monthly meeting of papers and fellowship. Rev. Martin Tiedrich took a puff on his cigar, and stretched back as he enjoyed the conversation happening around him. He had presented that afternoon, a paper on the 19th century American Lutheran views of the end times. And it had been well received by the 25 or so pastors and the 4 laymen who had come this month. Hosted at Tiedrich's church, St. Paul Lutheran in Modesto, this was part of the ritual of after-conference. Being a rather generous man, Tiedrich passed out the cigars for the brothers to enjoy, while other pastors with him paid for the beer.

The conversation had turned, as it usually did, to life under the cross of what was their district. It didn't help that their district president, Rev. David Prescott, was a glory hound and not a theologian. A glory hound who despised Confessionals in general and Tiedrich in particular. President Prescott knew how to work the systems, and influenced every call list for every vacant church in the district so as to get his own men in. With more of his men in the congregations, there would be much more of a chance to get re-elected as district president at the next district convention. And for those brothers who were under the cross because prominent members of their congregations hated Confessional theology, Prescott was sympathetic and did absolutely everything he could to pressure the afflicted brother to resign his call. Of course, once you resigned your call, you went into the Lutheran version of no-man's-land: candidate status. Candidate status technically meant you were a pastor who was willing to serve in another call, but in reality, candidate status meant you were damaged goods and hardly any church wanted a damaged pastor to be their shepherd. It was evil. It was underhanded. And Prescott pressed it as far as he could. It was all part of being a Confessional in a wasteland like their northern California district. But at the least, the suffering caused by their district president brought a greater unity to the Confessional pastors. It galvanized them, and gave them a courage few others had.

Tiedrich finished his scotch, and then took part in more discussion. It was always a good day to get together with the brothers.

[Zjaum]

Fort Meade, Maryland
The halls of the NSA, as per usual, were filled with the sounds of clacking keyboards. The news was just released the "Charter for the Synod of True Anglicans," and one of the heads picked up the phone to speak with I&A in Homeland Security in an unusual instance of cross-department communication.

The discussion wasn't all that amiable, however. I&A was the first to speak. "Hey, Chuck. It's great to talk to you and all, but we're getting readings of you tapping into domestic lines again. You're stepping on our turf, and my superiors are getting a little too uncomfortable. Could you tell your team to back off?"
"Yes, well, ISIS is dead. We needed something to do."
"Don't dodge the question, Chuck."
Chuck leaned forward. "Look, we're about to have a new batch of home-grown religious zealots. Homeland Security was practically built to handle the last batch of religious zealots, but we did a lot more of the work. Now, you could let us help, or we could let you handle something we know you're not prepared for."
"We are handling it, thank you very much."
"How so?"


Loomis, California
Pastor Wendy Baker parsed through her church's mail for anything of interest. First there were the usual dozen letters of support from her congregation and around the world. She knew in her heart that she should be grateful, but she didn't surprise herself when she threw them all in the trash. Then there was the call for reunification from the official RCA, which met with the same fate.

Then there was a letter from Homeland Security. Huh. She put that to the side; probably best to open it in front of the Reverend Doctor, just in case. She turned on her computer and parsed through her church's emails. Search: "'Support', 'God's work', 'Encouragement'." Select all. Move to Trash. That got rid of the first hundred or so. Third from the top was... also from Homeland Security. Her interest was piqued, and she clicked it.

The message was an invitation to a gathering of religious leaders, thinkers, businessmen, and dissidents. Her first gut reaction was "it's a trap," but her better senses saw that it was open to the public, in a very public, very large town hall. It couldn't be too bad. She looked through the list of invitees. Names of leaders from the Anglicans, the True Anglicans, the Lutherans, the Lutheran dissidents, the... Arcierites? The list continued until it metaphorically reached the floor. They even had representatives from the outside American jurisdiction: the Irish, the Russians, the Ethiopians, the New Zealanders, and even the Botswanans. She was a tad depressed to find the Westboro Baptist Church invited. Tell us what you really think, why don't you.

The Reverend Doctor opened the door briskly to get back to his work for the day. "Did you hear about the Anglican charter?"
Mary called back to him. "Yeah, looks pretty good."
"Nice to know that there are still righteous people willing to stand up for their faith."
"Well, you can meet them in person. We've been invited to a conference by Homeland Security three Sundays from now."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, they've lumped us both in with Westboro Baptist Church."
"Ha! Tell us what they really think, why don't they?"
"Exactly what I was thinking. They specifically invited you to go. You haven't missed a sermon in three years, Phil. This is a good chance for a break."
Egilson paused, the debate from a few hours ago still weighing heavy on his mind. "Wendy, you've always been my better half. I would only brew chaos at that meeting. Could you go instead?"

Wendy was a tad reserved. She wasn't out in the public eye for a reason; she cringed at dissidence, and, although he had to do it that one time three years ago, she didn't care much for speaking in front of large crowds. Still, she tried to find a way to support her fellow man in any way she could, and the Reverend Doctor was going through the motions right now.

She took a deep breath. "I will not be one to shirk from duty. I will go, although I will need all the help and strength you could give in the meantime."


Little Rock, Arkansas
Rachel dropped the letter off at her boss's desk. Jed smiled back at her. "Thanks, Rachel, but I got the email you forwarded." Rachel made a slight bow and turned to leave.
Judson raised his hand. "Wait." After Rachel turned back around, Judson scrolled through the email. "We've been invited to a meeting in Memphis, and it's open to the public. I think it would be a good enough learning experience for everyone involved, and a pretty good networking opportunity. Would you be interested in coming?"
"Well, when is it? I have a midterm this Friday."
"It's three Sundays from now."
Rachel thought it would be a fun use of her weekend; she was nearly giddy with excitement. She changed her expression to save face as the uncaring intern. At least, she didn't have anything better to do. "Sure, why not?"
"Great. Tell the staff; I want everyone coming to have business cards at the ready. Tell them free donuts if they come."

[Walrusvylon]

In Jones County, Ohio, a large group of strangely dressed people gathered about a hill. Surrounding the hill was a great sea of farmland, dotted by many white house. Farmers were out working in the fields. Now, as for the people, the men were clad in dark trousers with suspenders and plain, button-down suits of varying color, over which they wore a black vest; and upon their heads were wide-brimmed straw hats. The women wore plain, calf-length dresses of varying color and simple white aprons. On their heads married women wore black hair coverings, while single women wore white ones.

One of the men began to climb up to the top of the hill. He was dressed the same as all the others— nobody was more important than anyone else. Like the rest of the married men, he had a long beard, but no mustache. Single men, however, kept their faces clean-shaven.

Reaching the crown of the hill, he faced the people and spoke: "Welcome to our humble assembly," he greeted them loudly. "As you doubtless already know, I am pastor Scott Oelhafen, our founder. Today marks the day that we begin our missionary work. I wish to give thanks to all of you for volunteering to spread the message God has given us. Technology has torn the world apart: Children are obsessed with their phones and video games, most people's favorite hobby is watching television, pornography runs rampant, and godlessness has infiltrated every aspect of modern life. In short, it is breaking down society at the family level. This is why we reject it, in favor of a simple life. The only way to live as God intented is remove ourselves from these temptations by separating from the rest of the society. We are much happier than the rest of the world without this technology, because we have God— and we have each other. And with God's help, we will purge society from these evils and restore what is right and just!"

Cheers and applause followed. The crowd began to make their way towards a caravan of covered wagons, one for each family who had volunteered— about one hundred in total. The wagons were provisioned with everything they would need: Plenty of food, water, Bibles, panphlets hot off the printong press, as well as various handmade toys, books, and games, for entertainment, among othee things.

Once everyone had boarded, the horses began to pull, and off they went— to wherever God would guide them.

[Bruke]

Washington, DC

Several elderly gentleman filed into a conference room at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church. Many of them had never been to the East Coast before, and some had come from as far away as California.



The church in DC served as the unofficial headquarters for the United Evangelical Church in America.

Pastors from all over the country gathered for their yearly meeting to discuss the affairs of the American branch, and usually respond to developments from sister churches abroad.

This year was different. Something was changing in this country. Various new denominations and sects were forming. Old rifts were set aside as new ones developed. The UECA had to respond. A million souls in this country, as well as the rest of the UEC around the world, depended on good leadership on their part.

The pastors debated how to respond.

One of them, Kaleb Daniachew of San Jose, stood up. "We face a changing environment in the United States. It seems as if there is a revival of the church! Now is the time to boldly proclaim the need for the church to return to what it once was: self-reflecting, working in light of the eternity of heaven; eager to serve the poor, the sick, the lonely, the homeless, the addicts, the depressed.... all the children of God whom society has cast out."

The others stood up and applauded for several seconds. As they sat back down, the discussion turned to drafting a statement that would outline the position on the changing environment.

Reverend Dessalegne Mebrete joined in via video conference from Addis Ababa. He wanted to make sure that any statement stayed true to the theology that had been developed over many decades. They stayed up late into the night, but were satisfied with the final work. Soon, the world would wake up to a new dawn of Christian thought, theology, and ethics.

When the UEC received an invitation to an interdenominational conference, they accepted even though they were wary of the government involvement in the form of the NSA. This would be their chance to spark renewal within other churches, and hopefully the church at large. But first would come the statement.

[Talchyon]

Early the next week
Rev. Martin Tiedrich, Modesto, CA

The California Lutherans for Confessional Study had long been a wary group. It came with the territory, having to speak out against the errors in teaching and in practice by those who you supposedly were in church fellowship with. And on that account, confessors of the faith were rarely loved and more often being seen as political agitators, disturbers of the peace, and in short, troublers of Israel by the D.P. and most of the higher-ups in the district. In some ways, it was an honor. Elijah was called the same thing. And Walther had written that such a temporal peace that comes by false doctrine is a false peace that lulls souls to eternal death. But those who speak out are like the salt and the light that preserves this fallen evil world by pointing back to the truth and purity of God's Word. Confessional Lutherans were like the watchmen of Zion who of course can see farther ahead than those inside the walls, who can see the enemy coming and cry out against it.

Because of this, the C.L.C.S. had long ago set up an email list where the brother Confessional pastors could vent, ask casuistry advice, share solid resources, and in general, support each other who were scattered in small communities across northern California.

Rev. Martin Tiedrich, long-time pastor of St. Paul Lutheran, Modesto, was a welcome voice on the list, chiefly because he was highly influential in the district as well. Serving as the district 2nd vice-president, Tiedrich (along with Rev. Brian Leberman of Grace, Sacramento, also a list regular) had regular meetings with President Prescott. As Vice-presidents, they were privy to information that the board of directors alone had. Therefore, when Tiedrich or Leberman responded on-list, the CLCS tended to listen.

Right now, the current discussion was about this strange email sent out by the NSA of all things, inviting an LCMS presence at a national conference. The CLCS brothers were confused, and a little suspicious. One email wrote, "Sounds like it's going to be some sort of ecumenical group of Protestants and libs who reject parts of the Word that we confess." Another wrote, "Is anyone actually planning on going? I don't have time to go such a conference." Leberman, on the other hand, sent out an email saying, "Guess what. District wants a presence there. They are sending a few of us. Martin and I are going. So is Ken Norman and Gene Wurtz." (Norman and Wurtz were on the other side, Lutherans-In-Name-Only, but not in teaching or practice, and some of President Prescott's right-hand men). This was followed by a message from Martin Tiedrich, which amounted to basically shaking his head at finding any kind of unity in such a hodge-podge group. He ended his email with the well-famous quotation, that only God's Word and Luther's teaching will forever stand.

[Bruke]

The United Evangelical Church

To our members in Ethiopia, the United States, Canada, Kenya, Eritrea, Germany, and Britain, and to all Christians:

Greetings to you, our brothers and sisters in Christ. The church, that is to say, the church at large, is in a time of change. Shifts are occurring throughout various denominations, with various groups forming in their wake. Keeping this in mind, we wish to put forward a vision of what the church can and should become.

At the center of this vision is a renewal of ethics and theology. Our vision is rooted in the Word of God, and is the product of years of careful study, prayer, discussion, and reflection.

We purposely begin with ethics, as it is influenced by and part of theology.

Ethics cannot just be a theoretical or abstract discipline. It must be lived out as part of the work of the church. There should be a virtuous cycle of action, reflection, and action, with each action being done in light of the previous one, with constant reflection through prayer and study of the Word. In other words, there must be what some have called praxis, going hand and hand with reflection.

Just as ethics must be practiced actively, so too must theology.

Theology must be applicable to the time and place in which a given church is located.

It must be shaped and practiced in light of the economic, political, and cultural context in which a church operates, whether on a local, regional, national or even international level. This makes necessary avoiding complacency towards social, political, and economic injustice. Instead, there must be a vigorous effort in establishing a community of all believers, who serve each other, the wider community, and the Lord.

Do not mistake us for those who would seek worldly change yet neglect the teaching of the Gospel. Far too many churches have made that mistake, to the detriment of themselves and the communities they serve. Instead, what we are calling for is an integrated message: first and foremost of the Gospel, as well as fundamental change to all aspects of society in light of it.

In short, any theology which is truly Christian must be one of love and justice. There must be love towards those which the world has cast away. There must be justice for those are suffering under various kinds of oppression. In this we follow the teachings of Scripture.

1st Corinthians provides an example of what love should be: "Let all that you do be done in love." (16:14, ESV) We are not to show love in some areas of godly tasks and not others. We are not to show love begrudgingly. We are not to show love to some people and not to others. Rather, as we go about the work of the church, we must do all things in and through the love of God.

As the book of Isaiah says: "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow." (1:17, NIV) This summarizes the whole of what we believe true justice in this world should be.

In describing these two subjects, ethics and theology, as we have done, we are describing a holistic view of what Christianity should be. We should not think to ourselves that the needs of the body and the needs of the soul are separate. Rather, they should be seen as one and the same, two sides of the same coin.

When we say "Jesus saves", do we mean from only some things or all? All! Jesus saves the believer from sin, as well as diseases and conditions, and demonic possession.

We must also not neglect the role of prophesy. As God has raised prophets in times of old, He can raise prophets even in this age of troubles.

Taken altogether, we believe we have put forth a vision of a holistic Christianity, that which is connected to the worldly and the otherworldly, to the everyday and the eternal.

May God watch over you, and keep you in His care.

Reverend Dessalegne Mebrete
Pastor Kaleb Daniachew
Pastor Tedros Wendimu
Pastor Mesfin Gebreselassie
Pastor Caleb Adinew
Pastor Lebna Degu

OOC: adapted from https://web.archive.org/web/20130504151843/http://dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/gudina_tumsa.html

[Zjaum]

Catering for a conference wasn't the usual job of the NSA, but, then again, what was?

In what could best be described as a miracle, the NSA and Homeland Security decided to make Operation Trent a joint endeavor. Some pastors and intellects came as early as a day in advance, if only to network and get the better hotel rooms. Already the first groups were discussing the latest news: a letter by the Ethiopians to the international church. Already the most fanatic of dissidents (and not a small number of cynics) were calling it the "Book of Ethiopians," to the great discomfort of the more conservative leaders. The South Dakota sect that had discarded technology would have, in any other religious climate, made headline news. They posed no threat to the entire faith, though, so they were swept under the rug. The hosts didn't forget them, of course, but the church heads surely did.

Wendy Baker was one of these forerunners. Because she was an invitee, the NSA had promised to reimburse her for her travel expenses. Still, she felt uncomfortable in a ritzy hotel and so chose a small bed-and-breakfast outside the town proper. It was cheap, it was inoffensive, but it wasn't ghetto. She found comfort in such inns. As soon as she got the keys and entered her room, she took a shower and read a chapter of the first book of Chronicles. With the jet lag, she needed all the help she could to get to sleep as soon as possible.

The following morning she used the bus route she found to get to Memphis. As she passed by to the conference room, about half a dozen pastors walked up to her to shake her hand. Not that they knew her on sight, of course, or even where she came from. She was just another body in this supposed game of numbers, where politics seemed to upstage piety.

The pastors inside the conference room were far nicer, calmer, more sincere, perhaps (probably) much wiser. She felt much more comfortable talking with them. It was small talk, but not meaningless small talk. It was meant to calm nerves and build a spirit of amity. Even if the sentiment would only last a few hours, at least it was there. Mary tried her best to calm herself.


Rachel had expected a lot more free stuff at the conference. Granted, it wasn't the reason or even a reason why she came, but she quite wanted to return with at least a few free pens. Rock of Angels had just finished setting up their booth, and now came the brief hour to look around before they all headed back home. Jedediah Judson, as forward a man he was, was not one to lay down one or two grand to keep everyone in Memphis.

The best Rachel could scrounge up was a series of pamphlets. As the gang got in their van and prepared to head on home, Rachel decided to crack one open. From the first few sentences, she was hooked. There were so many intricacies she'd known nothing about, viewpoints she'd never considered! She closed one and opened another, this time from the opposing side, finding equally valid arguments and leaving her with questions, perhaps even a few solutions. She picked up another. And then another. Rachel Tennison had no sleep that night.


Norman McNamara found himself moving along on the South Dakota prairie. He had a car, sure, but the NSA had chosen not to track the religious nomads at their peril. He was one of five agents searching for the group, each with the same message. It turns out he would be the only one to reach them.

He was well within view of them, and vice versa, but he still thought it necessary (or at least convenient) to pull up alongside them. He made a brief bow at the group and looked around for a leader. Finding none and too scared to push through their ranks, he approached the nearest adult settler and handed them the invitation, adorned with the seal of the United States of America. He then waited, as per orders, to escort whichever volunteer chose to attend. Hopefully one of them would be so bold.

[Bruke]

Reverend Mebrete caught the first flight from Addis to Memphis. The whole way, he was lost in thought. He was shocked by the sheer volume of response to the statement. At the offices in Addis Ababa, where the governing body of the UEC was located, the phones rang non-stop. Inboxes were flooded. People from all over the world had contacted the church in Ethiopia, as well as the sister church in the United States, asking about a dozen questions each.

They always started with a hostile tone: "Who the hell do you think you are?!", Do you know you're spreading heresy?", "How can you call yourselves evangelicals? This so-called "doctrine" smacks of the higher criticism of days past," or something to that effect. At first, the members reacted defensively, seeking to shield the church leadership from the fallout. But after careful reflection (exactly as encouraged in the statement!), they forwarded these messages on to the church elders. With patience and kindness, they answered the obvious questions:

The UEC, as a member of the broader church, had just as much a right as anyone else to participate in this discussion.

The statement and its contents were not heresy. Far from it, it was rooted in the Word of God and intended for His glory.

Evangelical Christianity is such a broad portion of the faith that it can serve as a label for many denominations which vary widely in beliefs and practices. Seeing as this is true, the UEC can rightly be considered a denomination in the evangelical tradition.

Just as the UEC rejects unthinking faith, it rejects the tendency within some denominations to let the study of Scripture and theology become secular means to secular ends, devoid of God.

Pastor Kaleb Daniachew drove straight from DC to Memphis. He was hyped up on coffee, and sheer excitement. He was unable to sleep that night. The statement had made quite the impact... He wondered how the others would react to their presence. It was disappointing to see that some continued to refer to the UEC as "the Ethiopians". Did they not realize that applying the label of "the other" or "the foreigner" would only prove the UEC's point about the lack of holistic theology in the denominations of the West?

[Talchyon]

Memphis, TN
Arriving at the Conference
Rev. Brian Leberman

As far as conferences went, this one certainly had good amenities. The NSA had given airport transportation shuttles for those attending the conference. The coffee was quite good, as was the food. The hotel wait staff seemed to be on top of things. The conference center itself seemed to be congenial for this. Round tables were set up everywhere, no doubt so everyone could hear the invited speakers and announcements. But what was helpful was that there were convenient electrical sockets so those who had brought their laptops could save battery power.

Rev. Brian Leberman, 3rd vice-president of the northern California district of the LCMS, and also the pastor of Grace Lutheran, Sacramento, looked around for a convenient spot that wasn't taken. The conference organizers hadn't given assigned seating at any of the tables. Still, he felt that you could probably talk to more people if your group spread out.

He was a gentle man, a Hebrew scholar and an Old Testament expert, especially in the book of Psalms. A thoughtful man, and one who would make sure that every word was measured and tested before speaking, Rev. Leberman was still quite easy to talk to. He wondered just how ecumenical of a conference this was going to be. Over the years, he, like many true Lutherans, had known little joy from the World Council of Churches. They always tried to stress their underlying unity, but ended up watering down important distinctions. Especially when it came to historic differences between Reformed and Lutherans. The Reformed never seemed to get the importance of the Lutheran teaching of the real presence of the Lord's true body and blood in the Sacrament of the altar. The Reformed treated that as a minor difference between the two faiths, as if that alone should not divide. But for Lutherans, that is, true Lutherans, the real presence was a key issue, just as important to the true teaching of Holy Scripture as justification was. True Lutherans would never concede on that issue. But, sadly, there were some LCMS Lutherans here who weren't true Lutherans. Such as Norman or Wurtz, the other district VPs. And while he didn't know everyone from the CTCR* who had come, the way things were going synodically, he assumed they would be a mixed bag.

At the conference, there were many talking about this theological proposal from the Ethiopian Anglicans. There were lots who loved it. A few of the more liberal groups weren't in favor of it. Leberman had read it, but it wasn't as if it was that earth-shattering in his mind. Sounded like a typical Reformed proposal - light on doctrine, and heavy on social justice. He shook his head, as if to himself. The Ethiopians wanted to begin with love and social justice, quoting the often-used passage from 1 Cor. 13. Doctrine could come later, as they proposed. Leberman knew this would never work out. How can you begin with social justice, if you don't have a clear agreement on the Word of God? Some, such as the old historical critical scholars and their adherents, taught that the Bible was Not God's Word, but that the Word was contained in the Bible. But with that, who then determines which passage is truly from God, and which is an aberration of men? If you're not clear on God's Word, how can you be clear on what is loving and what isn't? Some people today think it's loving to let homosexuals marry. But the clear Word of God goes against it. And not because it's evil or hostile to people. It's rather that people today are deceived and do not realize that homosexuality is a destructive force that damages and ruins those afflicted by it. Therefore, it's not loving to let people damage and ruin themselves. But you won't get there if you don't start with the clear Word.

Here's another reason why you can't begin with love or social justice, Leberman thought. It won't justify you. The Pharisee who stood in the temple and prayed was very big on love and social justice. But he neither knew his sins, nor repented of them. This man didn't go home justified. Only the tax collector, who cried out to the Lord for His mercy, did. Where justification is not the main focus, anyone who reads Holy Scripture goes off, skewing it to fit their own personal views. Justification is like the golden thread that runs all through Scripture. But it's hard to convince a conference of other traditions about this.

So Leberman took one of the rolls the conference was handing out, and began to eat, wondering if this conference would solve any divisions.

---

* - The CTCR stands for the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, a board of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod that regularly engages other traditions in dialogue on theological differences.

[Zjaum]

Memphis, Tennessee

The tap of a glass was heard over the microphone speakers. "Good evening, everyone. My name is Charles Whitaker, and I'm your host for tonight. I'd like to thank everyone for coming; we have delegations from all fifty states here! Before we commence with more serious matters, I'd like to propose a toast to the success of this conference." He raised his glass, to be met with mildly friendly reception. Sure, everyone wanted the evening to go well, but "success" needed better definition before things went going on. Still, it was good champagne (slash white grape juice, for the prohibitionists in the corner), so they toasted all the same. During this time, the director received a text from his department: "Pope Francis just endorsed dissidents, cardinals furious," followed by a gun emoji pointed at an angry face emoji.

Director Whitaker sighed took a brief moment to review his words before speaking. Hopefully nobody else knew that early, and it was best just to ignore it. There was a lot that he wanted to say and a lot that would have sent major individuals storming out of the conference hall. Those two categories overlapped, so he made sure to omit his personal feelings on the matter. "If you look at your brochure, we have a list of topics to go over [because if we let you gentlemen choose the topics yourselves, we'd never get anywhere]. We'd like to start with establishing some basic truths about the Christian faith, concepts that the whole church can get behind. This way, everyone can develop a spirit of amity, and [all you religious freaks] all the representatives here can walk out of here having reached conclusion on something."

There was a lot of murmuring, as pastors perused the list of topics. Murmurs of "Of course" and "Of course not" were heard as pastors perused baptism, mysticism, predestination, and other controversial topics. "Now, this conversation can go anywhere, but I'll start us off with the infallibility of the Bible. So, we've made a statement:" Whitaker posted a sentence on the board, stating simply:

The Bible is the written Word of God and can be used as the ultimate authority on the Christian faith.

Charles Whitaker was proud of what his team had concocted. They'd even eliminated the "in its entirety" after "Word of God," just in case. Even still, a number of pastors were whispering amongst themselves. Well, sure, most thought it was true, but it could easily be used to pin their respective arguments or grievances in their respective corners. Whitaker's mild smile faded when he didn't see the concord he expected. He adjusted the microphone. "All right, um, we'd love to hear speakers on this topic. If there are any experts on this subject [you should all be experts on this subject], we'd love to listen to what you have to say!" A mild nervous sweat.


Charlottesville, Virginia

"What is your comfort, in life and in death?"
"That we are not our own, but belong to Jesus Christ!"

The humid Virginia air pressed hard on the backs of the fifty-something twenty-something individuals standing at attention in a straight row. In front of them was a man, dressed in the same attire but pacing back and forth, a Bible rigid in his hand. "The Lord be with you!"
"And also with you, sir!"
"Lift up your hearts!"
"We lift them up to the Lord!"
"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!"
"It is right to give him thanks and praise!"

The chaplain believed this was enough rote memorization for the day before the evening's exercises commenced. This first meeting, all things considered, was going rather smoothly. One last one, though. "Who are we?!"
"The Order of Christ!"
"WHO ARE WE?!"
"THE ORDER OF CHRIST!"

[Talchyon]

Interfaith TN Conference
Rev. Martin Tiedrich, pastor, St. Paul, Modesto, CA (and member of the CLCS)

Memphis, Tennessee

The tap of a glass was heard over the microphone speakers. "Good evening, everyone. My name is Charles Whitaker, and I'm your host for tonight. I'd like to thank everyone for coming; we have delegations from all fifty states here! Before we commence with more serious matters, I'd like to propose a toast to the success of this conference." He raised his glass, to be met with mildly friendly reception. Sure, everyone wanted the evening to go well, but "success" needed better definition before things went going on. Still, it was good champagne (slash white grape juice, for the prohibitionists in the corner), so they toasted all the same. During this time, the director received a text from his department: "Pope Francis just endorsed dissidents, cardinals furious," followed by a gun emoji pointed at an angry face emoji.

Director Whitaker sighed took a brief moment to review his words before speaking. Hopefully nobody else knew that early, and it was best just to ignore it. There was a lot that he wanted to say and a lot that would have sent major individuals storming out of the conference hall. Those two categories overlapped, so he made sure to omit his personal feelings on the matter. "If you look at your brochure, we have a list of topics to go over [because if we let you gentlemen choose the topics yourselves, we'd never get anywhere]. We'd like to start with establishing some basic truths about the Christian faith, concepts that the whole church can get behind. This way, everyone can develop a spirit of amity, and [all you religious freaks] all the representatives here can walk out of here having reached conclusion on something."

There was a lot of murmuring, as pastors perused the list of topics. Murmurs of "Of course" and "Of course not" were heard as pastors perused baptism, mysticism, predestination, and other controversial topics. "Now, this conversation can go anywhere, but I'll start us off with the infallibility of the Bible. So, we've made a statement:" Whitaker posted a sentence on the board, stating simply:

The Bible is the written Word of God and can be used as the ultimate authority on the Christian faith.

Charles Whitaker was proud of what his team had concocted. They'd even eliminated the "in its entirety" after "Word of God," just in case. Even still, a number of pastors were whispering amongst themselves. Well, sure, most thought it was true, but it could easily be used to pin their respective arguments or grievances in their respective corners. Whitaker's mild smile faded when he didn't see the concord he expected. He adjusted the microphone. "All right, um, we'd love to hear speakers on this topic. If there are any experts on this subject [you should all be experts on this subject], we'd love to listen to what you have to say!" A mild nervous sweat.

Rev. Martin Tiedrich had taken a seat at one of the tables in the middle. There were a few there, and some papers and briefcases on the table reserving other seats for those absent. Sitting down, he got to some small talk with the others who were there while receiving drinks from the hotel wait staff. His eyebrows raised when he found out that they were offering champagne of all things. Gladly, he took a flute, as well as a cup of strong coffee. So far, the conference amenities were great. Much better than what they regularly got at their northern California LCMS pastors' conferences.

The others at his table were equally mildly curious at the role of the NSA in what was seeming to be like an international interfaith theological conference. One, an older Roman Catholic priest from Ohio (a Dominican of all things), looked skeptical at it. Another, a Methodist pastor from eastern Africa, joked around about it. Tiedrich saw the humor, and joined in. They were joined by a few others - a woman UCC pastor from Pennsylvania (at which Tiedrich had to keep himself from scowling when he saw her), a
bearded Quaker, and another, a pastor from some obscure Orthodox sect in Romania. Seemed like he was some kind of higher up in his church body. Tiedrich tried to be pleasant to all of them, but more than once just had to keep himself still when he heard some of the folks at the table - especially the heretic priestess from the high unholy cult of the UCC - talk about how united they all were as Christians. Already Tiedrich's blood was boiling. Any kind of unity not based on a complete agreement in doctrine and practice was a farce. And already, the fact that she was a woman pastor meant that they were not united in doctrine and practice.

But that's how interfaith conferences go. Most of the time, they're just lousy. They water doctrine down to the lowest common denominator to make sure that everyone there who claims to be a Christian can be reaffirmed. Tiedrich preferred the older, Nicene approach. Those who disagree with what the Word says, should not be called Christians, but Arian heretics. He still warmly thought of St. Nicholas of Myra, that young bishop at the council of Nicea when the Arian heresy was being debated, who went and decked Arius. Tiedrich could only shake his head. If only there were more Nicholas of Myra's today.

When the statement of affirmation on Scripture was shown on the screens, and the participants were asked to consider adopting it, Tiedrich got on the hotel wireless on his phone and began to look up the statement on the Formula of Concord on Holy Scripture. He also wanted to see what the others at his table thought of this. As to be expected, the Dominican next to him frowned. No doubt, because it was too Protestant of a statement. It tried to base all things on Scripture, whereas the Antichrist at Rome and his ilk want things based on sacred tradition as well. The Quaker and Romanian Orthodox man frowned too. Tiedrich couldn't tell why. He thought Quakers might go for this, even though Orthodox might not. Meanwhile, the Methodist and the UCC heretic seemed to love it. For Tiedrich himself, he was re-reading what the Formula of Concord of 1580 said, and how more clearly it spoke to the topic at hand. He did discuss at his table, "So, I'm assuming they're meaning the canonical Scriptures? We're not including the Apocrypha in here, right?"

The UCC dragon lady nodded her head. She spoke out loud and much about how she thought this statement was not only sufficient, but was highly to be praised among those who see themselves as Scriptural. Tiedrich couldn't take it anymore. "I can't figure you UCC guys out. First, you hear a statement like this where you're all for Scripture.
But, then, you UCC guys ordain women, even though God's Word in St. Paul forbids this, and our Lord Jesus never had women apostles. And other things you do, too. If you were really for supporting Scripture alone, you yourself, sister, would be out of a job." Like gas to the flames, so was Martin Tiedrich in mixed religious company.

He barely heard the announcement about requesting a speaker to teach on Holy Scripture. Tiedrich raised his hand and thought, "What the hell." He was planning on doing nothing other than read from the Formula of Concord on his phone, or maybe Chemnitz. It would be more theology than practically everyone here had ever encountered.