The danger with acknowledgements in a book, of course, is that as soon as the book is printed - the author realizes the important person left out! That’s why I chose to put my acknowledgements on a webpage. There are so, so, so many to whom Amy and I owe a debt of gratitude. It will be impossible to list every name. But, I will try! - at the risk of course that this web page will end up like a Marvel movie where the credits go on, and on, and on …

Please let me know if I’ve missed you, or anyone else - because it’s easy to add to a website. Thank you!

The Book

The first thanks goes rightly to Jesus for praying (on that night … presently before the Throne … and until it is fully answered) for the unity of the body of Christ to be like the unity of the Trinity. You truly are the Alpha and Omega - of history 🎉 , and of (much, much, much, much much smaller) this book. Thank you!

And the Holy Spirit - your surprises are so wonderful! Keep ‘em coming!

As we move into the realm of people, how could I not begin with Amy? I love life with you! 😍 You took time from your own writing projects to record your story in Chapter 4, and to rewrite much of Chapter 21 which was a mess until you took it over. Not to mention Appendix 3! And of course the whole book is your story, as well, and you were very gracious to let me tell it in my own Energizer Bunny way. I can’t wait until I make it into the Acknowledgments of your first published book 😮

The first person to suggest writing the book was John Dawson, as recounted in Chapter 1. Thank you John! Also for your constant support, encouragement, and contributions - the Midword, permission to use your quotation, and the really kind quote for the front cover. And then you took the time to read the Midword as well, for the audio book … wow! And Andy Zimmermann - it clearly takes a village to keep track of John 😂 and you are a great village! Your graciousness throughout was so appreciated.

The other person who really encouraged writing this book was Richard Harvey. I remember you sitting at our kitchen table at Christ the Reconciler, speaking earnestly to Amy and me about writing. We took it as a prophetic word from the Lord. Thank you!

It was Amy who really responded to that prophetic word from Richard, and began writing not one, but two books (My Father Abraham and Runaway Bay). In the summer of 2019, as we prepared to take our anniversary trip to New Braunfels, I knew much of the trip would be given to Amy’s writing - which made me happy. My “marching orders” from the Lord were to support her writing in any way I could. But I woke up the day of the trip with this thought: “I”m ready to write the Wittenberg story!” The outline came into my head pretty much fully formed - four sections of six chapters each, followed by a denouement of two chapters - making 26 chapters total, matching the 26 verses of John 17. (I know, sometime the way I think is pretty bizarre!) That anniversary, we spent a lot of time on the porch of our B&B, writing side by side. (Fun footnote: it was also on our anniversary trip two years later that I received the first email from William Carey Publishing that they were potentially interested in the manuscript. The timing made me suspect God was at work, and that WCP would publish the book. And, sure enough … 🙏 )

I knew I couldn’t take time away from Amy’s important writing for this book, but at the time I was traveling to Houston every few weeks for my Athens Group work. I would work all day, then head over to the Hobbit Cafe. I always got the same table on the patio, with a plug nearby for my laptop, and that’s where the book was written. Is it weird to acknowledge the Hobbit Cafe waitpersons for allowing me to sit there for hours on end, occasionally checking on me and always serving up great food and drinks?

When I had a draft manuscript completed, the question was … what to do? The answer of course was - call Nate Bacon! Nate knows everybody! And, sure enough, Nate suggested talking to his friend Dr. Ken Ross, who had published a few books with Regnum in Oxford. Dr. Ross made the connection to Dr. Paul Bendor-Samuel MBE, the Director there, and he graciously received the manuscript. Dr. Bendor-Samuel didn’t feel that Regnum was the correct avenue for the book, and kindly referred me to William Carey.

The team at William Carey has been fantastic. Katie, Melissa, Denise, Vivian, Mike, Jamie - your willingness to consider an unknown author, writing a book about repentance and church unity, in Germany? That’s 3 strikes and I’m out with most publishers! You have put up with my crazy ideas for Midwords, QR Codes, and more pictures than you can shake a stick at! I have been amazed at your responsiveness, your enthusiasm, your professionalism, your flexibility, your creativity, and most of all your love for the Lord and desire for “the world to know.” The cover is wonderful, and the overall design and layout of the book shows a lot of attention to detail. Not to mention that you came up with such a strong, significant title for the book - Unity Through Repentance. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And now, book contributors. Unity Through Repentance was truly a united effort, with creative contributions from people in every stream of the body of Christ. Isn’t that the way it should be?

• Providers of images used in the book - Thank you all for your willingness to extend permission for me to use the fruit of your labors and creativity. As a (very amateur) photographer, I know that a good image doesn’t just happen … well, except maybe for Noah’s 😂

  • Ryan / Noleen Thurman

  • Dan / Joann Davis

  • James B. Janknegt

  • Noah Cogdell

  • Julia Stone

  • Jo Hoffman

  • Verena Lang

  • Franz Rathmair

  • Rebekah/Sarah Brydon

  • Christina Cogdell

  • David & Kathi Peters

  • Red Zimmerman

• Contributors of reflections & memories of Wittenberg 2017 - I remember waking up in the middle of the night while writing the book, and thinking - “I need to ask everyone for their memories and thoughts, so it’s not just my voice.” Thank you for taking the time to consider, years after the event, what it meant to you. It is so important that each of your voices were heard, and add to the richness of the tapestry that God wove.

  • Chris and Bea Zimmerman

  • Dan Davis

  • Christine Herold

  • Lloyd Hoover

  • Scott & Claire Brill

  • Michael & Joelene Michel

  • David & Greetje Sanders

  • Franziskus Eisenbach

  • Flora Ruiz

  • Bob O'Dell

  • Gabriela Schubert

  • Elizabeth Huss

  • Lloyd Hoover

  • Sandi Pedrotti

  • Sr. Ann (Mary Paul) Friemel

  • Cheryl Sellstrom

  • James Bredeson

  • Jochen Debus

  • Dave and Jane Hughes

  • Walter Heidenreich

  • Franz Rathmair

  • Marianna Gol

  • Petra Feddersen & Birgit Janke

  • Fr. Drtad Uzunyan

  • Nate & Jenny Bacon

  • Hans & Claudia Wiedenmann

  • Hanna Miley

  • Verena and Hans-Peter Lang

  • Julia Stone

  • Sr. Joela Krüger

  • Richard Harvey

  • John D. Martin

  • Ryan Thurman

  • Ludwig & Cecily Benecke

  • Burkard Hotz

  • Br. Pietro Bergerhofer

  • Benjamin Berger

  • Sr. Damiana Lerp

  • Marcia Zimmermann

  • John Dawson

  • John R. Cogdell

  • Ann Cogdell

  • Fr. Peter Hocken

  • Ben Girod Sr. and Benjamin Girod Jr.

  • Andy Zimmermann

  • Abigail Trantham Cogdell

  • Keith Blank

  • Carolyn Hyde

  • Steve Hawthorne

  • Orna Grinman

  • Michael & Philippa Salm

  • George Miley

• Providers of other content in the book - quotations from books, talks, letters, emails, speeches, and the like, as well as translations (Vielen Dank) and appendices:

  • Amy Cogdell

  • Richard Harvey

  • Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa

  • Verena Lang

  • Franziskus Eisenbach

  • Danny Malakowsky

  • John D. Martin

  • Fr. Peter Hocken

  • Cardinal Christoph Schönborn

  • Holger Bartsch

  • Karen Goldapp

  • Miriam Debus

  • Lloyd Hoover

  • Ben Girod Sr.

  • Johannes Fichtenbauer

  • Martin Johnson

  • George Miley

  • Helmut Eiwen

  • Hans Scholz

• Fr. Peter Hocken, Sr. Ann Friemel, and the Mysterium Christi board - For providing the Foreword by (Fr. Peter) giving the excellent talk in 2016, (Mysterium Christi) giving permission to adopt the talk for the Foreword, and (Sr. Ann) taking time to work the rough transcript into something that was both readable, and also thoroughly Fr. Peter! The Foreword provides such an important theological grounding and also prophetic picture to start the book.

• John Dawson - for not even asking “what is a Midword anyway?” but agreeing to provide it in the midst of your busy schedule. I can’t imagine the transition from Part II to Part III, without your words that lift us up from the story of a couple, to the story of the whole body of Christ.

• Hanna Zack Miley - you have the last word, my precious friend - and it is a good one.

One of the first readers of an early manuscript was Bob O’Dell, who requested a couple of chapters for some research he was doing (aren’t you always doing research of some kind, Bob? ♥️ ). He ended up reading the whole book … and then took the time to compile a list of errors, suggestions for improvements, and honest feedback about passages he didn’t understand. Wow! I suspect many people will dive deeper into this content because of all the “hooks” that trace their origin back to your email.

Bob was a kind early editor … the most brutal early editors were my own family. I subjected them to reading one chapter a night around the dinner table, after we were done eating. They would burst into laughter at some of my obtuse prose … and I would, red-faced, stammer some sort of defense until their mirth got to me and I began laughing at myself. I can still hear Amy’s wise counsel - “Cut that. And that. And that too.” All of the readers of the book will benefit from those dinner table sessions!

Other family members contributed in other ways. My father, John R. Cogdell, proofread the manuscript 1.461538461538462 times (some decimal precision to honor my engineer of a father). My sister, Amy Brydon, lent her proofreading expertise as well - and kindly didn’t pass the manuscript along to Grace, who would have given me an “F” in horror at all my sentence fragments! Amy also really improved the description of the Anabaptists in Chapter 22 - thank you, sister!

John Michael & Diane Wall have a special place in my heart - they gave me the first financial gift for Wittenberg 2017, back in 2011 - completely a surprise! I hope you feel God’s pleasure and his kind reward that you were the first to hear the final manuscript read out loud, in the Miley Room here at Christ the Reconciler. You also have labored through the years in intercession for the book - along with so many others that I don’t know, but one that I do: Caroline Owens 🙏

Last but not least, I must thank my friend Bob Fullilove, who did the copyediting on the manuscript. You are awesome, Bob! The fact that you traveled with us to the final Wittenberg 2017 meeting, made it all the more lovely to have you be the one to copyedit the manuscript. You did such a good job, and worked with me so well on the many interesting issues encountered - such as how to handle my proclivity for ALL CAPS 😂 ! And not only that, you paved the way for …

The German Book

Thank you William Carey for being willing to release the German language rights to a German publisher.

I am so pleased that we have not one, but two German co-publishers:

• GGE: Thank you, Henning Dobers, for being willing to publish this book! Your expertise in all things publishing in Germany is Wunderbar! And the fact that you contributed so significantly to the initiative, in so many ways, means that this book is very much your own.

• Quellen: My heart swells with gratitude to all of you for believing in, funding, and cooperating graciously with Henning and the GGE.

Many have contributed donations so that the translation, layout, and first printing can be completed. God loves a cheerful giver - so God loves you! May your investment reap many returns for the Kingdom of God in Germany and Austria.

The Audio Book

Thank you William Carey for being willing to tackle the audio book in addition to the printed / eBook! And considering the possibility that I would be the primary reader! And my wild ideas to have every author read their own section! Denise & Vivian, your coaching for how to prepare and record was really helpful, not only to me but to the other readers.

I love and am deeply grateful for each reader:

• My lovely wife Amy, who read her chapter 4

• John Dawson, who read his Midword at the YWAM base in Kona - and everyone who contributed to that effort, including Andy Zimmermann and Jeff Rogers and probably many more

• Hanna Zack Miley, who read her Afterword in Phoenix - and Micah Dailey too!

Whenever practical, we tried to include the original recordings for quotes from talks during the meetings, etc. so many thanks again for those original efforts through the years.

I was amazed to be able to record at The Bridge in Austin. Many thanks to Gene, Dave, Gavin, and the team over there. You are a joy to work with! (And shout out to Cielo Water for your part in making it happen, too!)

And I would be remiss not to mention David Sanders, Julia Stone, and Cynthia Cave in Berlin; Bob & Lisa Harmon of the Alleluia Community; and Jim MacDonald - you know the effort you expended in this cause, as well, even if nobody besides us does! You are all precious to me.