A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

Among the older agencies that were organized on an inter-Mennonite basis one could mention the Mennonite Teachers Association (Kansas). In recent years the various Mennonite conferences have cooperated on a regional or state level in Mennonite Disaster Service and in MCC auction sales. One area of exemplary cooperation of all Mennonite groups in the United States has been the field of mental health. In California Mennonite Brethren have been actively involved in the establishment of Kings View Homes, the second of Mennonite Central Committee mental hospitals to be built after World War II. Kings View Hospital, located two and one half miles southwest of Reedley, was opened February 11, 1951. The large M.B. churches of Reedley and Dinuba have in the past 386 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH provided many volunteers for the recreational, devotional, and educational program of Kings View Homes. The administrator of the institution from its inception has been Arthur Jost, a member of the Reedley M.B. Church. With its outpatient clinics constantly expanding their services, Kings View Homes perform a vital Christian ministry in the community." In Kansas Mennonite Brethren have participated in the establishment of Prairie View Hospital. This mental hospital, sponsored by Mennonite Mental Health Services Inc. (a section of MCC), was opened on March 15, 1954. Located on a fifty-acre tract of land east of Newton, Prairie View Hospital has been expanding its services through the years. Several Mennonite Brethren psychologists and psychiatrists have served on its staff. Mental health centers such as Kings View and Prairie View have in recent years become increasingly community-oriented. Because these centers have joined with public agencies (usually by way of contractual relationships) they are able to serve all persons in the community regardless of their ability to pay. This cooperation with public agencies, however, does not affect the integrity of these mental health centers as private agencies with a Christian perspective in the healing arts. III. Cooperation on a National Level In a few areas Mennonite Brethren in the United States and Canada have found it necessary and advantageous to enter into inter-church associations which have been operating largely within national boundaries. In the United States World War II gave a great impetus to inter-Mennonite cooperation through the joint effort of all major Mennonite bodies to define a common peace position, and to administer Civilian Public Service. The Mennonite Central Peace Committee organized in 1939 as the official agency of seven Mennonite bodies (including the Mennonite Brethren) to work in this field, turned over its work to the MCC and its Peace Section in January, 1942. 8 Through P. C. Hiebert, the chairman of the Board of General Welfare and Public Relations, who also served as chairman of MCC, the Mennonite Brethren