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

d that the absence of elders would weaken the church for lack of au- thority.*1 Other interpreters, meanwhile, took the opposite view. They insisted that Scripture did not call for specifically desig- nated elders but rather intended the words "elder" or "bishop" to apply to all ministers and teachers in the church. Those holding this view did not recognize elders who had been spe- cially ordained for the office. The most exhaustive biblical study on the subject was that of H.W. Lohrenz.39 His conclusion corresponded with the findings of a group of leaders who met in Dalmeny, Saskat- 66 LEADERSHIP AND THE TEACHING MINISTRY chewan, in 1934 for Bible study on the issue. They conclud- ed chat the words "bishop," "teacher" and "shepherd" were used interchangeably. Their resolution said: "Every brother who has been called by God to the ministry of the Word ac- cording to the Scriptures is also an elder," They based their position on the following references: Acts 11:30, 4:23, 15:2,4,6,22,23, 16:4, 20:17, 21:18; Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:11, 5:5; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1* John F. Harms, one of the most trusted leaders in the Mennonite Brethren Church of his day, contributed the fol- lowing statement to the question of the eldership as a special office: "The leadership in the church should not be dependent on an official ordained elder. The local church under the guidance of the Spirit of God selects its leaders according to the gifts and assigns the responsibility of officiating at the communion services and on occasions of ordination."41 The issue of specially ordained elders faded from view af- ter 1935. The prevailing position was that the ordained elder was not a doctrinal but a functional position, and from then on the term elder would be applied to all who were called to the ministry. TOE ITINERANT MINISTRY The itinerant ministry played a vital role in spiritual re- newal, both among the early Anabaptists and their later de- scendants, providing nurture for local churches and serving as an arm of evangelism. The itinerant ministry arose from the fundamental notion that the New Testament church encom- passed both local congregations and the broader fellowship of believers. This notion, which began with the Anabaptists and carried over into Prussia and Germany, and later Russia, held one of the secrets to the movement's rapid expansion" The spiritual renewal that led to the formation of the Menno- nite Brethren can partially be traced to the influence of the itinerant ministry/3 67 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH Thus it was natural that th