The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism
The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism (a cross between Presbyterianism and Lutheranism) is the fictional Protestant Christian denomination that Rev. Lovejoy preaches at the First Church of Springfield. The church is the town's main place of worship, which most Springfielders attend, though it is not the only church in Springfield (AME, Catholic and Episcopal churches also exist). The name is a parody of Protestant reformed churches branching off into other denominations and movements.
Lovejoy is a member of the clergy of Presbylutheranism, founded by Martin Presbyluther when he left his Three Suggestions under the Pope's windshield wiper. The denomination, headquartered in Michigan City, Indiana, is led by "His Holiness, the Parson", who is also the elected head of the National Congress of Deacons. The Schism of Lourdes in 1573 was over the Presbylutherans' right to attend church with wet hair. That right has since been abolished. The church is at odds with Catholicism (even though they stopped feuding with each other). Rev. Lovejoy has a rivalry with a local Episcopal church, and he engages in a brawl with a Catholic priest after an exchange of hostilities. Lovejoy dislikes Unitarians. When he offers the Simpson children a bowl of Unitarian ice cream at a church social function and Lisa points out that it is empty, Lovejoy indicates that is the point.
Smaller, regional religions, for instance those of the south Pacific, are seen as inferior, and missionary activity is employed to ridicule away the beliefs of aboriginal peoples. The church also has enemies on a social level, including monogamous homosexuals and stem cell research. However, the Presbylutherans have members of varying levels of religiosity and devotion, and are generally not at odds with modernism. It could be seen as a centrist Mainline Protestant church.
Read more about this topic: Religion In The Simpsons
Famous quotes containing the words western, branch, american and/or reform:
“Sir Walter Raleigh might well be studied, if only for the excellence of his style, for he is remarkable in the midst of so many masters. There is a natural emphasis in his style, like a man’s tread, and a breathing space between the sentences, which the best of modern writing does not furnish. His chapters are like English parks, or say rather like a Western forest, where the larger growth keeps down the underwood, and one may ride on horseback through the openings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“We have yet to deal successfully with American transraciality in real terms, as we have failed to redefine race in light of the modern, twenty-first century progress of human kind.”
—Virginia Hamilton (b. 1936)
“People who love soft methods and hate iniquity forget this,—that reform consists in taking a bone from a dog. Philosophy will not do it.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)