Brother Andrew
Dear Friends,
In the 1950s and ’60s, a man known across Eastern Europe simply as Brother Andrew made dozens of dangerous trips across the iron curtain, carrying Bibles into communist countries that were aggressively attempting to erase belief in God.
In 1958, he crossed from the refugee camps in West Germany into East Germany to see how he might encourage the underground church. East Germany was ruled by the Stasi—one of the most oppressive secret police forces in history. Surveillance was constant. Neighbors informed on neighbors. Fear was woven into daily life. Brother Andrew expected to find a persecuted, hidden church desperate for Scripture.
Instead, the churches were open. Worship services were public. Bibles were available. The Church was not underground.
Confused, he pressed his contacts for answers. What he learned was more troubling than outright persecution. Rather than crushing the Church, the East German government was quietly replacing it.
They introduced state weddings—free, attractive, and stripped of God. The offered state funerals, at no cost. Traditional Lutheran rites of infant baptism were deliberately replaced with state-designed secular naming ceremonies. One by one, the sacred milestones of life were absorbed by the state, until an already struggling church was left diminished and hollow.
The Lutheran tradition was deeply embedded in German identity, and Biblical theology had shaped the culture for centuries. Both the Nazi regime before them and the Soviet Era Communists recognized that crushing the Church outright risked strengthening it – as persecution always did. But shrinking it, reducing it to ceremony and sentiment, could quietly empty it of power.
The pressure here in Maine is subtler, but the lie is familiar: government is big; the church is small. Faith is private. Religion belongs only in the pulpit.
Our political institutions have not merely regulated society; they have claimed authority over the most deeply moral and spiritual questions of human life. They relabel them as “policy” or “politics,” remove them from moral debate, and then set the terms on which they may be discussed. In our time, life, marriage, sexuality, education, compassion, work, justice, and human dignity all fall into this category.
Culturally, we have too often accepted that arrangement. The state defines the problem. The state defines the solution. And the church is told it may participate only as a service provider, not as a moral authority.
When Christians look first to government to define marriage, raise children, care for the vulnerable, and shape culture, we have surrendered responsibilities Scripture gives to the people of God—not to the state.
Scripture tells a consistent story: God can use governmental institutions for great good in the world, but lasting transformation comes only when they align with Biblical truth—and when the people of God are living out and proclaiming the gospel in every sphere of life.
Cultural renewal will not come through bigger government. It will only come through a church that refuses to be made small. And by “small,” I don’t mean size or structure, but influence, conviction, and presence in the life of our communities.
So the question before us is this: Is the church in Maine being shaped by secular institutions, or are those institutions being shaped by the Church?
As you Pray for Maine, would you pray specifically for the church?
Would you pray with me that God would strengthen Maine’s churches as they preach Christ clearly and unapologetically.
Pray that believers would have courage and clarity to speak biblically into our cultural challenges. It’s not enough to simply say we’re pro-life or pro-family—we must understand and articulate the Biblical truth behind those convictions.
Pray that the Church would reflect God’s heart for the institution of government—that it would truly be a servant for our good, as Romans 13 describes, bringing righteousness and justice to public life.
Pray that the Church would increase in its role as the most powerful force for renewal in Maine.
As Paul said to the Roman church:
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
Thank you for standing with us in this work. The ministry of the Christian Civic League continues because of the generosity of supporters like you. Would you consider giving toward our mission today?
