The Fellowship of Confessing Christians (An Introduction)

“You yourselves are our letter . . . a letter of Christ . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." – 2 Cor 3:2-3

Nov 16, 2024

Beloved in Christ,

For some time now I have had conversation with close friends, and others who are new acquaintances, about the need for Protestant pastors, theologians, and congregational members to form an ecumenical fellowship of “Confessing Christians” in these United States.

The inspiration for this springs from the historical and theological precedent established by the “Confessing Church” movement during the 1930s in Germany, under the auspices of the Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church that consisted of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Churches.

As I wrote to you in a previous letter, that Confessional Synod produced the seminal document known as “The Theological Declaration of Barmen,” commonly referred to as the Barmen Declaration of 1934, subtitled “An Appeal to the Evangelical Congregations and Christians in Germany.”

Its preamble stated that “the German Confessional Churches met with one accord in a confession of the one Lord of the one, holy, apostolic Church,” announcing that “with gratitude to God they are convinced that they have been given a common word to utter.”

By bringing the Barmen Declaration to the forefront of our self-reflection at this present moment in our history, informed by those earlier events that led to the witness made by the German Confessing Churches during Hitler’s Third Reich, the purpose is not to replicate the ways in which the Confessing Christians took their stances during the last century. For we are now in a different time and circumstance.

Rather, the purpose of calling to mind their witness is to stir and challenge us to a deeper consideration of how we are to live faithfully and prophetically as Christians at this present time.

By our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, and in fidelity to the Word of God in scripture, we must clearly differentiate ourselves from those “MAGA Christians” and “Christian Nationalists” who have chosen to offer themselves in uncritical devotion and subservience to their idol, Donald Trump.

As the Confession of 1967 of the Presbyterian Church (USA) declares: “Although nations may serve God’s purposes in history, the church which identifies the sovereignty of any one nation or any one way of life with the cause of God denies the Lordship of Christ and betrays its calling.”^[i]

That is also the case when an individual like Mr. Trump claims his own idiosyncratic sovereignty over the nation, and when aligned with him is a vast entourage of fervent religious followers devoted to granting him divine sanctification irrespective of his autocratic posture and moral turpitude.

Moreover, the dark clouds of homegrown fascism portend like an ominous hurricane to strike at the heart of our national life with gale force winds.

Consequently, my deep sense of concern has weighed upon me sufficiently to ask: how may a company of willing Christians best respond together to the looming storm?

So, I am placing that question before you, while being quite certain that hosts of other Christians across the land are asking that same question and gathering to find answers, beginning with contrite prayer and confession in the presence of the living Christ.

My supposition is that many people within America will soon face a significant disruption to their ways of life, which will entail a great deal of personal suffering.

As for any Christian who may decide to take up the cause of others who suffer unjustly due to the machinations of a willful dictator, it is imperative from a theological perspective to come to terms with what it means to suffer alongside those who suffer.

On July 28, 1944, while imprisoned for his opposition to Hitler, and less than a year before his execution by hanging at Flossenburg by the order of Adolf Hitler, the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote the following from his prison cell.

“Not only action but suffering, too, is a way to freedom. In suffering, liberation consists in being allowed to let the matter out of one’s own hands into the hands of God. In this sense death is the epitome of human freedom. Whether the human deed is a matter of faith depends on whether people understand their own suffering as a continuation of their action, as a consummation of freedom. I find this very important and very comforting.”^[ii]

The fact is that the Confessing Church in Germany suffered willingly and with great courage alongside the millions of Jews and many others who perished in the fires of the Holocaust. Numerous “martyrs of Barmen” were “liquidated” in Hitler’s concentration camps.^[iii]

We pray fervently that nothing approaching so much as even the slightest scale of the Holocaust will take place in America—which is all the more reason why Christians, among others, must stand tall, and quickly so, lest the days of resistance come too late to forestall such a debacle.

And so—now—to this matter of The Fellowship of Confessing Christians.

Being cognizant of the constant presence and influence of television, the Internet, and social media, we are acutely aware of the many complex events, issues, and concerns of our time, including the implications and consequences of the 2024 national election.
It is with these matters in mind, along with the countless everyday personal struggles and sufferings which people are experiencing, that The Fellowship of Confessing Christians seeks to be an ecumenical network of persons and communities engaged in active witness to the gospel through missions of public advocacy and support at the crossroads of life.
Essential to the Christian life is the unifying premise that as Christians we are called to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20, NRSV), which means lovers of people, welcomers of strangers, speakers of truth, forgivers of enemies, advocates of justice, makers of peace, protectors of the vulnerable, agents of reconciliation, and givers of hope in the midst of despair, in counter-witness to those religious interests and forces that co-opt Christianity and the Church into false, heretical, and damaging alliances with the destructive and authoritarian aims, policies, and actions of the state.
It is our hope that as a confessing Christian you will be part of our ongoing discussions, fellowship, and witness.
Those of you who have been subscribers to Letters from a Confessing Christian will remain as subscribers to The Fellowship of Confessing Christians unless you choose to unsubscribe. Your subscription remains free.
This digital medium of communication will soon become a private group hosted on a different platform than Substack. You will be informed in advance of the transition. Additional persons will be added to a roster of contributing writers. If you are interested in writing for us, please contact me directly via email at charlesdavidson@substack.com.
Subsequent to our transition to the new platform, for the sake of safeguarding the interactions of participants, new subscribers will be welcomed on an individual basis after initial screening, with the understanding that all of us are mindful of the mutual care, accountability, and sacred responsibility we bear for one another. There will be opportunities for us to come together for conversation from time to time on a separate and secure video conferencing/virtual-meeting platform.
To maintain the integrity and practical necessity of our ability to share openly in support of one another, The Fellowship of Confessing Christians is not a forum or home for MAGA Christians and Christian Nationalists.
I will share more details with you about the Fellowship once transition to the new platform takes place. Access to it will be password-protected.
Know that your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback are always welcome.
Thank you for your continuing interest and participation. You are vital to our common endeavors as stewards and confessors of the gospel in God’s world.
May the peace of Christ be with you wherever you venture forth today in his name.

^[i] The Book of Confessions, The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church ((U.S.A.), Part I. 9.45 (Louisville: The Office of the General Assembly, 1999), 260.

^[ii] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, DBW (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works), Vol 8 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 492.

^[iii] A list of some of the “martyrs of Barmen” by name appears in the endnotes of Arthur C. Cochrane, The Church’s Confession Under Hitler (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962), 293.