The minority situation of the Protestant Free Churches which first appear in Germany in the nineteenth century, and the problems arising from it have hardly been taken into account so far. Heiser likes to better understand how the self-image of a young religious minority can be read from the polemics raised against larger and established churches. Hermann Heinrich Grafe (1818–1869) was the founder of the first Free Evangelical congregation in Germany. His attitude towards the national church is outlined and markers for the self-image of what he argues as “minority church” are distilled from it. Heiser focusses on the circumstances that initiated the founding of the Free Evangelical Church. Indeed, factors that have contributed to “a hardening of mutual demarcation” over a long period of time can be identified in the beginnings. The analysis of the source material illustrates the attempt of the minority to prove its own view as the one corresponding to the gospel. Soteriologically, this means emphasizing faith and its visible consequences. Ecclesiologically, it means favoring the church of believers as the visible representation of the “body of the Lord.” Heiser shows that the self-image is fed essentially by the “demonization” of the majority or mass church. Here, the lack of awareness for the individual conscience, the toleration of “unbelievers” in its ranks, the secularization of its members and its ministers, and especially the lack of discipline in the communion of the communion are reproached. Such an attitude must consequently lead to separation.