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

churches, claimed that he had been the recipient of hospitality in hun- dreds, perhaps thousands of homes and never found a home where family devotions were not practiced.51 House visitations by ministers or deacons always included an inquiry concerning the character and punctuality of the family devotions. The effectiveness of these exercises was a concern to the church, and instruction on how to improve their benefit was frequently a part of such house calls. Bible Study Hour. A major encouragement toward a 25 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAJTH strong biblical orientation was the weekly Bible study hour-a fellowship meeting in a private home to read Scripture togeth- er and discuss its meaning and implications for personal life. The Bible study hour was not something new in Mennonite history. Hans DeRies, a sixteenth and seventeenth-century Dutch Mennonite leader, referred to it. A report on the life of the Mennonites in the Netherlands by M. Simeon Friedrich Rues (1743) mentioned Bible study hours among the Anabap- tists of the seventeenth century, Peter M, Friesen asserted that the practice did not come to the Mennonite Brethren from the Pietists, as frequently assumed, but rather the latter adopted it from the Mennonites who had let it lapse during their spiritual decline* The Mennonite Brethren, through the influence of the Pietists and Moravian Brethren, restored it as a legacy from their Anabaptist forbears.32 Among the early Mennonite Brethren the Bible study hour took place in two forms: the midweek study hour in private homes, and the annual three or four-day Bible study confer- ences in local churches. The midweek Bible study hour was informal. The people congregated in a home, gathering around the table with each one having a Bible. If not every- one could sit at the table they formed a circle. One partici- pant suggested a song that the group sang, A favorite was "Herrdein Wort die edle Gabe, diesen Schatz erhalte mif\ Lord thy Word, this precious gift, preserve this treasury for our good. It means more than all possessions, its value supersedes all other riches. Where thy Word does not prevail there is no foundation for our faith. My desire is not the possession of a thousand worlds, but to thy Word alone I wish to cling. This song expressed a deep commitment to the Word and a desire for obedience. Each participant at the study hour would read a verse or two from the Scripture portion to be 26 A PEOPLE OF B1BUOCENTEUC FAITH studied- The host of the home served as die discussion leaden The leader or other assigned