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

. A year later I applied for baptism. First, two brethren of the church leadership (Gerhard Derksen and Adolf Reimer) examined me. The inquiry was thorough. My past was exam- ined to determine whether I had asked forgiveness of the men upon whom I had played many pranks in my youth. "Had I asked for forgiveness of those whom I had offended? Had I made restitution where needed? Had my relationship in the family and school toward brothers, sisters and class- mates changed? Had my priorities, values and aspirations changed?" Satisfied with my responses, they made further in- quiries of people who knew me in school, in the village, among my unconverted former friends and members of the village gang. Their inquiries satisfied them that an actual change had taken place and I was invited to give my testimo- ny before the church community. After my brief story of con- version, some of the questions of the preliminary examination were asked from the floor. "Is Hans Toews too young for baptism at the age of fifteen? Is he mature enough to grasp the implications of a life surrendered to the lordship of Christ?" The question of age and maturity became a subject of concern when the church evaluated my readiness for bap- tism in my absence. Some members of the "village gang," my friends before the conversion experience, were consulted as to whether they believed that a genuine change had taken place in the life and relationship of their former companion, The church voted to baptize me even though there was con- cern about age and maturity. For many years a candidate's qualifications for baptism and church membership were established by similar means. In retrospect one recognizes elements of legalism, a possible reaction to the old church where such evidences were not a 36 MB UNDERSTANDING OF SALVATION AND BAPTISM condition for church membership. The dogmatic emphasis of the Mennonite Brethren on im- mersion as the only biblical mode must be seen in the light of tensions between adult baptism and believers baptism.52 John F. Harms, an earlier Mennonite Brethren historian, provided valuable background when he pointed to the distinction be- tween a Volkskircbe (peoplehood church), which practiced baptism by sprinkling, and a believers church, which the Mennonite Brethren sought to be.53 Some have suggested that relationships with the German Baptists in Hamburg led Men- nonite Brethren to adopt immersion as the only biblical mode. The influence of the Baptists cannot be dismissed. But grant- ing full credit to them ignores P.M. Friesen's account of t