The second-century Christian teacher Clement of Alexandria identified a dove, a fish, a ship ... Writings from the early church show how central the cross was to Christian preaching and confession.

But the denomination’s logo — two red flames intertwined with a thin, black cross — means something else to the Rev. Edlen Cowley, pastor of Fellowship United Methodist Church near Dallas.

Water baptism, practiced by immersion in the early church ... and many other pagans used the fish symbol before Christians. Hence the fish, unlike, say, the cross, attracted little suspicion ...