Particularly at the beginning, the attitude of several members of the "Council of Churches" showed a lack of determination. One of the factors that led the Council, as well as the Churches themselves, to a more determined attitude, was the influence of the "Circle of Lunteren". This group, consisting of ministers belonging to different Churches but mainly to the DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, had followed the plight of the Confessing Church in Germany with deep sympathy; many of them were influenced by the clear stand and the teachings of Prof. Karl Barth. [276] The "Circle of Lunteren" secretly met for the first time in the village of Lunteren, on August 22, 1940. A letter was sent to the Synodal Committee of the DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, urging the Church to give clear advice to the local churches and to the nation at large, especially regarding increasing anti-Semitic propaganda. [276] The reply of the Synodal Committee, however, was both reserved and evasive. [277] The "Circle of Lunteren" also published clandestine brochures; 50,000 copies of the brochure "Almost too late" were distributed. It was written by Rev. J. Koopmans. He spoke of the danger of following new Messiahs, instead of the Messiah who came "not from our race, but from the much hated Jewish race". <121> He especially mentioned the fact that people in official posts were commanded to sign a document stating that they were "Aryan", and that the vast majority of those concerned had signed it, perhaps not even realizing its implications for the Jews. [278] Rev. Koopmans pointed out that it was a grave mistake to sign the document, and since many people had already signed it, indeed it was "almost too late". Therefore quick action should be taken if it would not be too late altogether. Everyone should explicitly declare that he would not take part in the expulsion of the Jews from public life. The pamphlet closed with the words: "Dutchmen, it is almost too late, but still not too late! It is still not too late to return to the Christian faith and to a clear conscience. It is still not too late to stand up for our Jewish compatriots, for the sake of mercy and on the grounds of Holy Scripture. It is still not too late to show the Germans that their wickedness has not overcome everything, but that there are people who are determined not to be robbed in this way of their Christian faith and their clear conscience." [279] Someone was caught distributing this brochure; he was sentenced by a German judge to one and a half year imprisonment. [280] Another clandestine pamphlet was published by the "Circle of Lunteren": "What we believe and what we do not believe". It was written in the summer of 1941 and widely distributed. We quote the following: