A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

Board of Elders to the Committee of Ref- erence and Counsel." 2 ' For better or worse, the efforts to centralize authority in one body of "collective leadership" had failed. A. H. Unruh, a member of the Committee of Reference and Counsel at that time, analyzes the reactions to the proposal for a Board of Elders. According to Unruh, some brethren looked upon this proposal as a violation of the autonomy of the local church and a liquidation of old traditions in the M.B. Church. Others believed that the early practice of having elders who were responsible for several churches was unscriptural. The fear of falling back into a system which had been abandoned, led to a protest against the establishment of a Board of Elders." The history of Mennonite Brethren during the last two decades provides ample proof that the concerns of the brethren in the Committee of Reference and Counsel were justified. Unless the brotherhood accepts a greater responsibility for united action in the calling and training of its ministers, denominational disintegration cannot be ruled out. II. The Ministry of Deacons Throughout the history of the M.B. Church ministers and deacons have been inseparably linked in the work of the church. The early Brethren accepted the office of the "diaconate" on the basis of scriptural teaching and in keeping with their Anabaptist-Mennonite background. Among the Mennonites of Dutch origin the office had been primarily one of caring for the poor and needy of the congregation and had to do largely with material aid.-' In the early M.B. Church the function of deacons appears to have been expanded to include other ministries. The Confession of Faith of 1902 reflects this enlarged conception: Concerning the office of the deaconry we believe, that the church shall choose men according to the example of the apostolic church, as such are designated in Acts 6: 1-6; and 1 Tim. 3:8-10. These are by virtue of their calling into service placed under duty to supply the poor and suffering in their want with the provisions given by the church, and according to the measure of their gifts to assist in the building up of the church and to serve according to the teaching of Paul . . . (in) Rom. 12:7-11." The first brother to be elected to this office in the Molotschna was Franz Klassen, one of the signatories of the Document of Secession and the man whom the church had authorized for the "laying on of hands" at the first ordination of ministers. 26 In Chortitza the first deacons in the M.B. Church — Cornelius Unger and Benjamin Nickel — were ordained in October, 1869, by the visiting Baptist minister J.G. Oncken." SERVING WITH VARIOUS GIFTS 313 In North America the Mennonite Brethren followed the pattern established in Russia. Every congregation elected one or more deacons to serve in the traditional manner. That the validity and relevance of the office was never questioned or became a matter of brotherhood