Picture a police officer, like Dan Dusenbery* of our congregation, arriving on the porch of Dr. Ralph Dorner* one evening, putting him under arrest, and taking him to the new Polk County jail. Can you imagine his then being taken to the courthouse by prosecutor Dan Johnston* and tried before our church council for heresy because he did not believe as we did? Can you further envision his being found guilty by Judge Leo Oxburger* in spite of attorney Phil Miller’s* pleas, brought to Nollen Plaza mid-morning, and hanged for his crime on a gallows constructed by our Neumann Brothers* Construction Company? *The point of the illustration is that these individuals are all members of the author’s large congregation in Des Moines, Iowa.

We consider today a saint of the church who could, and did, e…