Wilhelm Loehe was a young pastor in Bavaria, the southeastern corner of Germany. He finished his theological studies in the early 1840s and began to think about where he might like to serve as a parish pastor.

Loehe had some characteristics that were viewed by some as virtues, by others as liabilities. He was idealistic, determined, courageous, outspoken, and — in the minds of his detractors — brash. While studying theology, he had come to the conclusion that his expression of Christianity, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, was too worldly. It was giving in to relativizing what he believed was a clear and pure gospel message, one not to be compromised.

Loehe was especially concerned about the confessional stance of the church in his generation. He wanted a clear, solid, straigh…