Here is a fun adventure romp, a first novel by former Newsday columnist Ray Keating. Stephen Grant is an ex-CIA agent with notches on his pistol who, with a little bit of angst, turns his back on his secret life and becomes, get this, a pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
We first meet Grant as he dispatches an opposing agent within the nave of a French Catholic church (because for discreet meetings between rival spies, the empty churches of Europe are ideal). Grant next shows up as pastor of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church on the east end of Long Island, where he slays an eco-terrorist who is trying to shoot choir members at rehearsal (not, from the description in the novel, that choir’s rendering of A Mighty Fortress didn’t give the effort some merit).
Well, after that, one thing sort of leads to another thing and pretty soon Pr. Grant saves the life of Pope Augustine from a knife-wielding priest shouting “apostate,” shares “decaffeinated black currant tea” thereafter with same (um, the pope, not the assailant), and at different stops along the way vanquishes liberal theologians, spars with arrogant media-types, and incidentally helps the Vatican advance an ecumenical initiative called “A Public Mission of Mere Christianity.” St. Mary’s, by the way, seems to be a parish that functions well in the pastor’s absence.
Somehow, honest, it all seems to hang together. This sort of protagonist, after all, is not entirely unknown. The “Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor/member as hero” genre was introduced to American literature by Paul Maier, a present vice-president of the LCMS. He has previously introduced readers to Missouri Synod figures of sizable proportion. Of course, in the real world, there have been Missouri Synod pastors, former at any rate, who did once or twice take lunch in the papal apartment at the Vatican.
Oh. I said it hung together. It does, almost. While Pr. Grant does read Touchstone magazine regularly, apparently he has never heard of First Things. On this point, obviously Keating’s novel is, like, way, way removed from any plausible reality.
Russell E. Saltzman is pastor of Ruskin Heights Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and was once, while press secretary to a congressman, chewed out by then U.S. Senator Bob Dole.
October 1st, 2010 | 5:55 pm
Try The Name of the Beast, a 1992 by Daniel Easterman in which the Pope ends up squaring off against his former seminary body, now a fanatical (Osama/ Gadahn avant la lettre) Islamicist convert, mano a mano, inside the Great Pyramid on New Years Eve 2000…
October 1st, 2010 | 7:27 pm
[...] may just have to take a look Over at Firstthings, there is a comment about a new novel that is out : an ex-CIA agent turned LCMS pastor(!!??!) [...]
October 1st, 2010 | 10:47 pm
But what about Forum Letter? Does he read that?
October 2nd, 2010 | 7:06 am
I can understand why a serious LCMS pastor would read Touchstone and not First Things.
October 2nd, 2010 | 9:13 am
Never touches it, Forum Letter.
October 2nd, 2010 | 1:34 pm
Having created Pastor Grant, I know he reads ALPB’s “For All the Saints” prayer book. And who knows, maybe First Things will get a nod in one of the sequels.
October 2nd, 2010 | 1:38 pm
Typo in my own name above comment — long week.
October 2nd, 2010 | 4:58 pm
You think you committed a typo? Try “seminary body” for “bodhi”, err, “buddy”…
Besides, Ray, English has no central linguistic authority comparable to l’Academie Francaise, which logically means there can be no such thing as a “wrong” spelling in English.
October 3rd, 2010 | 12:43 pm
Pr. Grant saves the life of Pope Augustine from a knife-wielding priest shouting “apostate,”
That alone sounds like it’s worth a read.
October 4th, 2010 | 1:32 am
What a bunch of drivel. The genre of fiction fits with much of Meyer’s theological positioning so this should indeed help him create the fantastic world that he wishes really existed where the LCMS becomes a bastion of liberal Christianity.
October 4th, 2010 | 6:01 am
[...] via Heroic LCMS Pastor Saves Pope » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog. [...]
October 4th, 2010 | 7:06 am
[...] Synod Pastor Saves the Pope? Posted on October 4, 2010 by bobherring2009 I came across this brief article about a new book by Ray Keating about a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastor (well, it’s a [...]
October 4th, 2010 | 4:31 pm
Maybe someone should have done a little research.
I doubt that a LCMS church would ever be named St Mary’s
October 4th, 2010 | 4:38 pm
I picked St. Mary’s on purpose … get ‘em thinkin’
October 4th, 2010 | 5:13 pm
got me!
October 5th, 2010 | 1:00 am
Hang on to your hats…. There is a St Marys Baptist Church in South Australia.
http://www.business.com.au/st-marys-baptist-church/
(No, no apostrophe, and that’s a clue… it’s in the Adelaide suburb of St Marys).
October 5th, 2010 | 3:26 pm
Well, the obvious question is: Who’s going to play the lead role in the movie?
Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, or Leo McKern?
October 6th, 2010 | 12:15 pm
My wife wants Matt Bomer from USA’s White Collar to play Pastor Stephen Grant. Should I be worried? ; )
October 7th, 2010 | 4:25 pm
Heck, there’s a St. Mary’s Free Will Baptist just down the road from me.
http://www.celinea.com/d-323370175.htm
October 8th, 2010 | 10:57 am
Ray,
I just got my copy from Amazon. I haven’t cracked the cover yet, but can I assume that he carries a Walther P99 as err some Lutheran clergymen do?
October 8th, 2010 | 12:25 pm
There are Bond-ian aspects, certainly, but alas, he prefers a Glock.
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