T: Protestants of Every Tradition

For the past 25 years, I've belonged to a one-of-a-kind progressive faith community of Lutherans and Catholics, Mission of the Atonement. No other such church exists. It's hard to imagine going anywhere else, and it especially fits our family since I was raised Lutheran and Mike was raised Catholic. Members of our church long for a day when we can worship together freely with no divisions. To learn more about our church, read this blog post I wrote on our 25th anniversary in 2011. We are a collective of people who constantly ask, as Brian Doyle suggests, "what if?"

Easter at Mission of the Atonement

T: Prayer for Protestants of Every Tradition

How tempting to say bluntly here, what is it you are Protesting against now? The vast bloody greedy corporation that was the Catholic Church centuries ago is no more; we no longer conduct wars, or sell coupons to heaven, or murder our enemies, or run other nations from behind the robes of kings. 

This is not to say we have no flaws; but are our flaws so unlike those in your tradition? Could it not be that the time has come, as the late John Paul II himself suggested, that we join forces again under the flag of the Judean rabbi?

We apologize for our sins; we admit that Martin Luther was right; we remind you Anglicans that you were Catholic before an English king cast lustful eyes elsewhere than he should, and bent a religion to his purposes; 

we wonder with affection and respect and reverence for your grace and creativity, if there's a way for us all to gather back under the same huge tent; we note that if we did so there would be some two billion of us, which is a remarkable number of people devoted to peace and mercy and service to the Christ in every heart; 

and even as we acknowledge the thorny theological and logistical issues, we ask politely that at least for the next few minutes you ponder this: What if? And so: amen.

Here's more information on why I chose this focus for the A to Z, and you can read all my 2015 A to Z posts here. I hope you enjoy the celebrations of the miracle and muddle of the ordinary! 

You can buy the book at Brian's favorite local bookstore, Broadway Books, at Powell's Books, or on Amazon. Brian's work is used with permission of Ave Maria Press.