A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

evangelism: Up to 1965 only seven churches had conducted evangelistic training programs. By 1967 thirty-one churches had conducted such programs, and forty-one churches reported that they were planning an evangelistic training program in 1968. 3 6 The "primacy of proclamation" as a method of evangelism has not been abandoned, however. In 1971 Henry J. Schmidt, a senior at the SERVING WITH VARIOUS GIFTS 319 Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary and a former pastor, was appointed as conference evangelist. In Canada On the basis of some preliminary studies on Canadian Conference evangelism by J. J. Toews and I. H. Tiessen, the 1958 convention delegates elected a Committee on Evangelism with J. J. Toews as chairman. The 1959 conference accepted in principle the appointment of an evangelist and with it a complete program for greater congregational participation in evangelism. At the same convention H. H. Epp, pastor of the M.B. church in Blaine, Washington, was accepted as conference evangelist. When Epp terminated his ministry after five years, the conference was without a full-time evangelist for two years. During this time, when the brethren in the United States were rethinking and reshaping the evangelistic strategy of the local congregations, the Board of Evangelism in Canada was engaged in a similar process. The new approach is reflected in the 1966 appointment of J. J. Toews, a teacher at the Mennonite Brethren Bible College, as Executive Secretary of Evangelism and Church Extension. The chairman of the Board of Evangelism, J. M. Schmidt, made the following comments in support of the board's new plan: Within our local churches we have spiritually minded laymen who possess a spirited interest in evangelism. This dynamic task force is waiting for leadership, for instruction. ... It is imperative that we . . . utilize this potential resource as well as train others for evangelism if our brotherhood it to be maintained and its number increased. ... To accomplish this goal in a greater measure, we trust this conference will react favorably to the recommendations of this Committee. 36 The ministry of Toews was well received in the churches. When he was released for a "sabbatical" in 1969 to continue his studies, Rudy Boschman, pastor of the Linden M.B. Church (Alberta) was called to serve in the interim period. Because his evangelistic ministry met a widely-felt need, especially among the young people, he was subsequently appointed for an indefinite period. Since J. J. Toews's return to the work in 1971, both brethren are engaged in various phases of evangelism throughout the Canadian Conference. In recent years Lay Institutes for Evangelism, sponsored by Campus Crusade, have been attended by many members of Mennonite Brethren churches in both Canada and the United States. An inter- Mennonite study conference, Probe '72, held in Minneapolis in April of 1972, had among its more than 2,200 p