Every now and then, someone — sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left — decides to do a very free-church Protestant thing and start their own new and improved version of one of the ancient Christian churches. Sometimes, these innovators decide to submit themselves to the existing hierarchies, making the decision to officially join either the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox folds (Memory eternal, Father Peter Gillquist). But often, they do not.
Either way, these attempts to put old wine into do-it-yourself containers can lead to interesting stories in the mainstream press. Interesting? Well, that can be interesting good or interesting bad — since explaining the history and traditions of the ancient churches is a must.
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