Reading this chapter reminds me of Loren Mead's (Alban Institute) discussion of Nehemiah in [i]Transforming Congregations.[/i] Mead says, “We are powerless to change ourselves and the world if we are confused about what our community stands for.� (116) This sense of boundary includes a reaffirmation of the essence of the “unchanging gospel.� (103) The role of the watch dog is at least in part to define and protect the boundaries of the faith. The watch dogs cannot circle too close or they will risk excluding some of the shepherd's own sheep. Neither can they extend the boundaries too far, or they will risk having the sheep become vulnerable to wandering or predators. This balance must be a constant passion for the shepherd and those who watch for him. As Peter Meiderlin so aptly said at the time of the Thirty Years' War in Germany, "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity." Discerning and protecting the difference between essentials and non-essentials is one key role of the watch dog.