A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

ogy to meet the need of 20th century society. Our archaic language "cliches" and illus- trations are losing the minds of "atomic age" people. 247 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH 5. A request to our higher Christian education institutions to place men on the staff who have fervent evangelistic zeal in training our youth how to witness and to lead them into the areas where they are encouraged to give their lives to soul winning and building the kingdom of Christ and His church.16 Conference evangelists were appointed to assume leader- ship for renewal and evangelism in the churches.17 They re- ported holding up to twenty-two evangelistic series per year, plus providing assistance to local church efforts.18 In the latter half of the 1960s Mennonite Brethren evange- lism found its focus in the "Decade of Enlargement," which was based on the following Scriptures: "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habita- tions" (Is, 54:2), and "You must keep trying to excel for the upbuilding of the church*1 (1 Con 14:12).19 These passages are well adapted to motivate people for evangelism, however they do not contain the spiritual laws prerequisite for effective soul winning. More appropriate may have been the prayer of Psalm 51:10-13: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy pres- ence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a will- ing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee. In and around the Decade of Enlargement two slogans were frequently utilized: "Win 5 in 65" and "Double in a Decade." Subsequent programs and slogans that achieved varying degrees of prominence included "Friendship Evange- lism" in the 1970s and later "I Found It" and "Win One in 91." While all were heartfelt expressions of enthusiasm, the anchor in biblical theology was often lacking. In the 1970s special seminars were offered to groups of 248 MENNONTTE BRETHREN EVANGELISM churches in person-to-person evangelism.20 The Canadian and U.S. Conferences appointed executive secretaries to assist and coordinate the work of evangelism in local churches, provinces and districts.21 A historic meeting in Denver on April 28, 1971 revealed several pressing concerns: (1) an erosion of a biblical theolo- gy on evangelism; (2) a feeling that the increasing interest in social responsibilities could diminish interest in evangelism; (3) the need to be a witnessing church at home