A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

bout two decades later in Canada than in the United States. Of seventy-seven churches that responded to the questionnaire only nineteen had engaged a full-time pastor by 1960. From 1961 to 1971 there was a rapid increase in the number of congregations who abandoned the traditional pattern and engaged brethren for special pastoral ministries. Thirty-two churches went through this process in the last decade. A number of congregations reported that they have a minister who receives partial financial support for his work. There are still eleven congregations (mostly rural) who carry on their work under the leadership of unsalaried lay ministers. That there has been a certain reluctance to make this change can be seen from the fact that twenty-seven congregations had a transitional period of one to ten years between an unpaid lay ministry and a fully salaried pastor. In 1971 there were still at least a dozen congregations who gave only partial financial support to their leading minister. The arguments advanced for retaining the lay ministry were in many respects similar to those noted earlier in M.B. churches in the United States. Not all objections to the "pastoral system" were on pragmatic grounds. Some stated that they considered the lay ministry more biblical, and others felt that lay ministers were less inclined to aim for popular approval in their preaching. The reasons given for engaging a full-time pastor are mostly practical. Greater efficiency in the operation of the church program, greater effectiveness in community outreach, and a more systematic visitation ministry are listed as some basic reasons for change. Since most of the congregations have only recently undergone this change, the assessment of the results of the new form of ministry is quite restricted. Many churches feel that the objectives which motivated them to employ a full-time minister have been realized. Others express concern about the infrequency of lay participation in church work, the lack of variety in preaching, the paucity of money for missions, and the more "formal services" since they have engaged a pastor. The long-range effects of this new pattern of the ministry remain to be seen. One thing has become increasingly clear during the last few years: it is almost impossible to recruit young men for a lay preaching ministry in Mennonite Brethren churches today. Very few ministerial candidates are elected by congregations from their own midst. More and more churches are looking to the theological schools (and to other 310 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH churches!) to meet their needs. Although colleges and seminaries can play a major role in the training of ministers and pastors, the calling of men into the ministry remains the responsibility and prerogative of the local congregation. The congregational church polity of Mennonite Brethren implies such a procedure. Hopefully, this practice will not be a