A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

tions, the Confession of Faith and the monumental work by P. M. Friesen on the history of the M.B. Church [Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Bruederschaft in Russland). A. H. Unruh laments the lack of denominational literature among Mennonite Brethren: It is regrettable that the Mennonite Brethren Church in Russia was so poor in literary works of its own. It had good and competent preachers and evangelists, but few authors. . . . Short devotional pamphlets were imported from foreign countries. In their own midst writers could not be found. Had the Mennonite Brethren Church been willing to make sacrifices for this cause, much would have appeared in print that brethren had in their writing desks at home, and other brethren would have been encouraged to put their ideas into print for the benefit of coming generations . * This observation is certainly also applicable to the Mennonite Brethren Church of North America, even though the restrictions of pioneer life might make this dearth of literary activity and creative writing more 283 284 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH excusable during the early period. A survey of the publication efforts in the United States and Canada shows quite clearly, that a relatively small number of brethren in the M.B. Conference through the years have had the deep conviction that "the pen is mightier than the sword" and that the minds of men (also of church members) are molded by what they read. This story with its humble beginnings and a gradually enlarging vision will now be sketched. I. Pioneering in Publication Efforts (1884-1906) It appears that all conference publications in America have been the result of a response to specific church needs. Shortly after the Mennonite Brethren had settled in the United States and began to meet as a conference, they felt the need for information about the work done by their itinerant ministers. At the conference sessions in 1883 Bernhard Pauls of Coffey County, Kansas, was appointed as "editor," to gather reports from the evangelists and have them printed. 3 However, nothing appeared in the minutes the following year concerning this new venture. In response to a question by J. F. Harms, Pauls smilingly replied: "Nothing has been sent to me, consequently I could not publish anything."' 1 An organized effort was initiated in 1884, when the conference elected a committee of three brethren — Abraham Schellenberg, Dietrich Claassen, and J. F. Harms — giving them a three-fold assignment: (1) to work on the preparation of a history of the Mennonite Brethren Church; (2) to publish the annual conference reports, and (3) to publish a conference periodical. It will be recalled that a year later the Mennonite Brethren in Russia commissioned P. M. Friesen to write a history of the M.B. Church. When the brethren in America became aware of these plans, they refrained from this task. The new committee went actively to work, ho