A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ool, because of its combination of recreational activities and various handicrafts with Bible studies and devotional periods. Other agencies of community outreach have been daily vacation Bible schools (see table) and mission Sunday schools. In 1951, thirty-eight M. B. churches in Canada reported that they sponsored such schools in their respective areas. 15 In the United States, where the transition from German to English had occurred earlier, children of the community were integrated more readily into the regular Sunday school program, with a possible exception being found in areas where Mexican-Americans still used the Spanish language. The significance of the Sunday school for the growth (and even survival!) of the Mennonite Brethren Church can hardly be TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE 227 overestimated. The Sunday school of today is the basis for the church of tomorrow, since more than 80 percent of Mennonite Brethren church members come from the ranks of the Sunday school."* Since the separation of church and state in modern society has led to the elimination of all religious instruction in the public schools of America, we agree with Roger Babson, noted statistician and economist, that "there never was a time in the history of our nation, when the Sunday school was so much needed." 31 II. Youth Work in the Mennonite Brethren Church One of the greatest spiritual assets of the M. B. Church through the years has been a large, active youth group. Young people have often provided the vision and dynamic for blazing new trails in evangelism and Christian service. Denominational leaders from other churches have expressed their amazement (and sometimes envy) at the active participation of Mennonite Brethren young people in the work and worship of the church. This brief survey will be restricted to one particular aspect of "youth work," namely that ministry of the church which aims at building youth-constituted and youth-oriented fellowships within the context of the total church program. 1. Early Developments in Russia The early Mennonite Brethren Church was a youthful church. According to a study made by Alan Peters, most of the first eighteen brethren were young married men with very small children. 3 " This youthfulness of the adult members in the original church necessarily limited the number of young people in the Mennonite Brethren fellowship. It is not surprising, therefore, that one finds no record of any youth emphasis in the early church. This lack of emphasis on youth, and on its special problems and needs, however, also persisted when conditions changed and relatively large numbers of young people became members of the M. B. Church. This tendency to neglect the young people in the church seems to have been historically conditioned. Mennonites in general, including the early Brethren, believed that the training of youth, even in matters of morality and religion, was the function of