At the beginning of 1934 events in the German Churches accelerated almost hectically. Reichsbischof Müller’s position was now looking precarious, if not fragile. The fissures which had been opening up in the Deutsche Christen movement were growing by the day while the new Pastors’ Emergency League was, if anything, gathering momentum. But Müller still had power and he proceeded to use it firmly. With what promptly became known as a ‘muzzling’ order, on 4 January he imposed the Aryan Paragraph on the church in Prussia and proscribed any reference to the conflict in any sermon or publication there. Any pastor who resisted would face suspension and the withholding a third of their income. Yet only three days later a statement of protest was read out from pulpits occupied by his critics.