So many church papers, as we know them, lack the punch and pungency of the Apostles and Prophets because they instinctively (tho not as a result of cold calculation) were pressed into the service of the visible church corporation and identified its interests with the Church Invisible, and therefore fell into the habit of painting the rugged truth with an inoffensive coat of piety.  That is the style which breeds orthodoxy and pietism.  And insofar as its influence is of this nature, it is detrimental to the spiritual welfare of the Church.  There is a place for a paper of the character of FAITH-LIFE. 

     With this in view we two years ago formed a society of all those pastors, teachers, and laymen who are in harmony with and have an understanding for our venture, regardless of whether they are affiliated with established synods, or already belong to the suspended parties.  We ask no one to leave his church.  We are not proselyting.  We do not propose to approach those men and women, even of our own congregations, of whom we know beforehand that they are not interested, or have no appreciation or understanding of our business, tho they may be good and devout Christians otherwise.  We do not wish to coax or to beg any one to join us.  This is a society, within the church, of volunteers who come to us with the foreknowledge that they are joining themselves to the troubles of the Church.

     Our purpose is to preserve the heritage of the Wauwatosa Gospel; to popularize, unfold, and apply the ideals of the earlier Quartalschrift.  That is the doctrine which has uncovered and brought to light our spiritual poverty, has unmasked Synod, and raised this present storm.  It does not fit into the scheme of things, due to its sober, honest, matter-of-fact, and incorruptible character.  The Wisconsin Synod has practically disavowed these views and is shedding them like a tree sheds its leaves.  Synod will therefore not preserve its own heritage.  It remains to be seen whether the Protes'tants have absorbed and understood these ideals sufficiently well to preserve them.  The truth which has been handed down to us cannot be kept intact merely by intellectually subscribing to it.  This truth must become part of our flesh and blood, our life.  We therefore intend to carry on our work, on paper: by writing and publishing timely and pointed articles on subjects which are or should be under discussion;-in the pulpit: by means of sermons;-in the pew: by cultivating the choice and classical hymns of the early Lutheran Church;-in the parsonage and parish: by a close application to that Gospel which places our conversation in heaven;-in the schools: by instilling the fear of God into the young idea, which is the beginning of wisdom;-among ourselves: by practicing an unflinching criticism which knows neither fear nor favor;-over against Synod and the church at large: by uncovering cant and corruption and freely discussing those touchy questions which Synod for the sake of self-preservation, and actuated by fear of disintegration, has hushed up.         (FAITH-LIFE October 1, 1929, Vol II, 13:3, reprinted in FAITH-LIFE September, 1932 Vol. V, 9:1)

Read more on the history of the Protes'tant Conference