The dinner party had gone well. It was the kind of evening when good food was matched by rich conversation and warm cheer. As the dishes were being cleared and cream was being stirred into after-dinner coffee, the conversation took a more serious turn.

The guest of honor was a church leader from central Europe, the Soviet Union had come apart only months before, and the table was filled with eager questions. How had the church in his country fared during the long Soviet frost? What changes were occurring now that the warmer winds of democracy were blowing across central Europe? What wisdom did his experience bring for the church in North America?

He spoke slowly -- even cautiously -- at first, measuring his words, weighing their risk, a man unaccustomed to candor among relative strangers…