A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

was established and in some measure enforced. The first statistical report presented by J. F. Redekop to the Canadian M. B. Conference in 1943, affords certain insights into the nature and scope of Sunday school activities. 26 According to the report, there were Sunday schools in all sixty-six churches of the conference, and these were being served by 513 teachers and 217 assistants. Of these teachers, 295 had taken Sunday school courses, and an additonal 149 had received other special training. The total enrollment that year stood at 5,789 — about 2,000 less than the total church membership for the year. With regard to Sunday school materials the statistician reported that thirty-two congregations used graded lessons, eighteen used Bible stories, and in three churches both were used. The International lesson outlines were used in most adult Bible classes. According to J. F. Redekop, a major problem was the language of instruction. In forty-three Sunday schools (67 '/2%) the German language was being used and in the others (33%) instruction was bilingual. When the need for English lesson materials became more acute, the conference, guided by the S. S. Committee, decided that a way should be sought to retain unity in the curriculum in a bilingual constituency. This led to the arrangement with Scripture Press to adopt their outlines and translate them into German. The brethren A. H. Unruh, B. J. Braun, G. D. Huebert and others were made responsible for adapting these outlines to denominational needs. On the basis of the Scripture Press outlines the lessons were rewritten in the German language. The Scripture Press materials were accepted with some reservations not only at the General Conference level, as noted earlier, but also in the Canadian Conference. In 1957 the latter adopted a recommendation by the Sunday School Committee to participate in the publication of graded lesson materials on an inter-Mennonite basis. A. P. Regier, who was appointed Mennonite Brethren editor for the new series, worked diligently to introduce these new materials in the Canadian Conference. At the 1957 convention he pointed out that the congregations were rapidly adopting the English language in their Sunday schools. "During this period of transition," Regier stated, "we are looking for English materials that we can heartily recommend, and which will also promote and preserve our unity. In this material (inter-Mennonite) we see how one can change from one language to another, and yet remain true to the faith of Scripture and of the fathers."- 1 224 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH In 1959 the new "Mennonite Brethren Graded Sunday School Series" were introduced in the primary departments in all congregations. In 1960 the new lesson material was also introduced in the junior and intermediate departments. More than 100 changes suggested from time to time by the Mennonite Brethren editors, A. P. Regier an