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

t under- standing of corporate discernment. The Influence of Baptists The relationship of the Mennonite Brethren with the Bap- 127 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH tists has been substantial. In the years following I860 strong Baptist connections influenced church polity. ^ This contact may also have provided a point of reference for the early Mennonite Brethren when they faced questions regarding the form of baptism. This fraternal relationship grew stronger as a result of an early cooperative program with the American Baptist Mission- ary Union, From 1889 to 1914 eighteen Mennonite Brethren missionaries from Russia served in India under this arrange- ment. The early foreign missions movement in North America also received directives through this relationship. Mennonite Brethren missions patterned their methods and policies after Baptist programs for the first sixty years. Early Mennonite Brethren missionaries, with few excep- tions, received their training in Baptist schools: the German Baptist Theological Seminary of Hamburg-Horn for those from Russia, Rochester Seminary for the North Americans, Conse- quendy the theology, strategy and methods used by Menno- nite Brethren missions were largely adopted from the Baptists without an independent study of Scripture or an attempt to formulate a theology of mission rooted in Anabaptist distinc- tives- A positive result of the Baptist influence was their nurture of missionary vision and responsibility, as well as their contri- butions in evangelism and Christian education. For a number of years Mennonite Brethren resources and inspiration in these areas came largely from Baptist sources, MENNONITE BRETHREN IN NOKTH AMERICA Expansion and Growth Mennonite Brethren in North America at the turn of the century were expanding to new frontiers. The original settle- ments in the 1870s proved inadequate for the subsequent growth of these communities. Mennonite Brethren in Min- nesota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas moved south to 128 MENNONITE BRETHREN AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY Oklahoma t west to Colorado, Oregon and California, and north to North Dakota, Montana, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In all of these new settlements they established congregations. The number of churches increased. By 1909 there were sixty- five congregations with 4,725 members in North America.2* Major Concerns General Conference minutes from 1890 to 1910 reflect four major concerns: missions, both home and foreign; the question of ethics; church polity; and education. Progress in missions was the central concern. The itinerant ministry, known as hom