A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ed interest and a continuing program of community outreach. Periodic "evangelistic crusades" have constituted only a part of this cooperative effort; much emphasis has been placed on the distribution of appropriate literature stressing the "one gospel" which all evangelical churches proclaim. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this inter-church effort has been the visitation program in which teams from all the participating churches reached more than 10,000 homes in South-Vancouver. Similar patterns of inter-church cooperation have emerged in many other centers of the M.B. constituency in both Canada and the United States. In many instances Mennonite Brethren have provided initiative and leadership in these joint ventures of faith. Although the follow-up program has occasionally caused some tensions, these have in most instances been amicably resolved by the cooperating groups. In addition Mennonite Brethren pastors and preachers have been actively involved in inter-church ministerial meetings. In some areas these are largely inter-Mennonite in composition. In the Kitchener- Waterloo area inter-Mennonite ministerial meetings have been held annually since 1950. In central Kansas (Hillsboro, Hesston, Newton) such meetings or "seminars" have also been carried on for some time. 384 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH Inter-Mennonite pastors-fellowship meetings have been held regularly in such cities as Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and in many other areas. In the Mountain Lake area Mennonite Brethren pastors participate in the local (largely Mennonite) ministerial association, as well as in the county-wide organization which includes a number of other groups. II. Cooperation on a Regional Level (The "region" may refer to either the state or district in the United States, and to the province in Canada.) In Canada In Canada many inter-Mennonite activities and projects have been sponsored through the years by provincial organizations. This pattern of provincial organizational structures dates back to the 1920's when the immigrants from Russia organized immigrant committees (Immigrant- enkomitees) in all the western provinces. The Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren immigrants met annually for the discussion and disposition of common problems, such as the liquidation of the transportation debt, material aid to destitute families, assistance in new colonization projects, support for the mentally ill (in order to prevent their deportation to the country of their birth) and other mutual concerns of pioneers in a new country. The provincial MCC organizations of the present day are an outgrowth of the earlier immigrant meetings. Mennonite Brethren have played a leading role in the establishment and promotion of inter-Mennonite activities on a provincial level. In British Columbia the late A. A. Toews and his successor George Thielman (both M.B, ministers) have headed the provincial MCC fo