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

to the Word and Spirit of God/18 As issues and situations change, the church and its individual members must be prepared to change the shape of their testimony of faith before the world. The Word of God constitutes the abiding and unchang- ing authority for the Christian in all matters of faith and con- duct. While each individual Christian is to be involved in the process of interpretation and application to some extent, such action should occur within the context of the brotherhood and not in isolation from it. Any change in ethical positions should be motivated by the desire to be more obedient, more loyal to the Will and Purpose of God as understood by His children. The result of the change will then be a more consistent expression of such Will and purpose.9 The process of change was not to be through legislation but through the group process of searching Scripture in a spir- it of unity and love under guidance from the Holy Spirit. However, "once consensus has been arrived at concerning an issue, such a decision is accepted in the spirit of love and vol- untary submission as a guideline by all persons belonging to the consensus group."10 Pastoral Letters In the 1980s occasional "pastoral letters" became a means for the General Conference to more visibly share the concerns of the various study conferences with congregations. 287 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH A key undercurrent of study conferences in 1986, 1988 and 1989 was the matter of being a "kingdom people" in the midst of rampant individualism. Specific issues included church polity concerns relating to baptism, church membership and the Lord's Supper, and the ministry of women. The first pastoral letter, "A Call to Reason Together/ was sent, in 1986, to all pastors and church moderators and pub- lished in The Christian Leader and Mennonite Brethren Her- aid. It was a clarion call to the churches to recognize the im- plications of rapid cultural change.11 No longer primarily a rural agricultural people, the Men- nonite Brethren had become by the late twentieth century the most urbanized of the five major Mennonite groups in North America. In addition to being seventy-three percent urban- ized by 1990 they were also the most highly educated, the most highly represented in the professions and business and had the highest average income.12 One result of such rapid change, according to the pastoral letter, was a loss of people- hood-a weakening of identity. The letter also expressed concern about growing diversi- ty of theological thinking and clarity in spiritual identity