A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

s have offered many music workshops especially designed for choir directors. Specialists of national reputation were often brought in to conduct these sessions. Another area of support came from publications and music committees. Isaak Born of Lichtfelde, Russia, published a monthly periodical for singers including songs with notes to be used in Mennonite churches and homes. At the General Conference sessions in 1893 he offered to edit his Saenger-Zeitung with notes for American readers and asked for an advance of $150.00. The conference did not accede to this request, but recommended that singers in America subscribe to this periodical. 30 At the 1919 General Conference, J. P. Wiebe on behalf of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren "Association of Singers" asked the General Conference to take over the Saenger-Bote, a publication on church music which had a circulation of some 700-800. The conference suggested that individual churches consider the matter and deferred the decision until the next conference. 31 At the 1921 conference it was then decided together with the publication committee that a periodical be published to foster the ministry of music in the churches. This was the impetus for the formation of the first General Conference music committee with the following members: H. D. Wiebe, J. P. Wiebe, Aron Sawatzky, H. J. Pankratz, and J. J. Franz. 32 Three years later (1924) this committee gave an oral report 33 emphasizing the need for (a) a music magazine, (b) diligent practice in hearty singing, and (c) a suitable church hymnal. The conference decided to affirm them as the songbook committee (Komitee fuer Gesangessache) , with H. J. Pankratz as chairman. Their mandate was to recommend a hymnal suited for the churches' needs. Their report three years later (1927) 34 recommended the Neue Glaubensharfe (German Baptist publication) for use in Mennonite Brethren churches. Thus, for a short period of time the conference responded to the on-going musical needs of the churches. However, for the next eighteen years the matter of church music received no attention on the General Conference level, nor was a special music committee provided for this purpose. In 1945 the conference again involved itself in church music 250 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH activities with the resolution to begin the production of a Mennonite Brethren hymnal." The Songbook Committees in the Canadian Conference have continued to function to serve general church music concerns in addition to their production of the Gesangbuch and The Hymn Book. The United States Conference created a Music Committee in 1959. 36 It helped sponsor church music conferences, music scholarships, and published a few issues of a church music periodical. It was eventually merged with the Board of Christian Education. No General Conference music committee has been formed since the early efforts in the 1920's. The Mennonite Brethren