When Mennonite Brethren from Russia settled in the prairie states of the United States from 1874-80, they immediately felt the need of fellowship with one another and of a closer relationship among the several congregations. On 28-30 September 1878, eleven representatives from three Nebraska congregations and one in Kansas met near Henderson, NE to discuss matters of common concern. This meeting was, however, not fully representative of the Mennonite Brethren (MB) churches and was later not recognized as an MB conference.

On 18-20 October 1879, 22 delegates from Mennonite Brethren churches in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Dakota convened in the Henderson MB Church and organized and conducted the first MB Conference. The purpose in effecting this conference was to promote spiritual fellowship among the churches, to define and establish a united position on points of doctrine and practice, and to unite themselves for more effective mission effort and other activities.

From 1879 to 1909 this General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church convened every fall, holding its meetings in one of the larger churches of the constituency. The conference Sunday was devoted to a mission festival; the evenings were used for evangelistic sermons or Bible addresses. During the conference a communion service was observed. The conference organized with a chairman, an assistant, secretaries, and the required committees. Besides the delegates many visitors attended and the conference became an occasion for large gatherings. Beginning with 1883 the minutes and reports were printed in the form of an annual yearbook.

Home missions occupied an important place on the conference program and in its deliberations. The home missions work, as arranged for by the conference and directed by its Home Mission Committee, consisted of evangelistic meetings in all the churches as well as in unchurched communities.

Beginning in 1884, the conference published the Zionsbote as its church organ; in 1907 it transferred its publishing house, originally established in Medford, OK, to McPherson, KS. The Publishing House had been started as a private enterprise by John F. Harms in Hillsboro, KS. Later it was transferred to Medford, OK, after which it was taken over as a conference-operated program and moved to McPherson, KS for several years. From there it was moved back to Hillsboro.

The need for an Mennonite Brethren school was expressed as early as 1883 and repeatedly mentioned in the following years. In 1898 a Conference Educational Committee was elected and a German Department School was opened in conjunction with McPherson College under the direction and instruction of J. F. Duerksen.

The desire to do foreign mission work was keenly felt in the conference from its beginning and financial support of missions with which the church was acquainted began in 1884. In 1889 the conference appointed a Foreign Missions Committee which was instructed to begin work among the Native Americans and find suitable mission workers. This came to fruition in 1894, when Heinrich Kohfeld opened the first Mennonite Brethren mission among the Comanche Indians in southern Oklahoma.

The conference has had many devout and efficient leaders, devoted and successful evangelists, and many other useful workers. The most outstanding conference leaders in early years were Abraham Schellenberg, Johann J. Regier, Cornelius Wedel, Heinrich Voth, Johann Foth, John F. Harms, and David Dyck.

To care for the mission work opened in India in 1899, the conference was incorporated under the state laws of Kansas in 1900. In order to include all conference activities and to do all the work more efficiently, the conference adopted a constitution in 1908.

The conference adhered to the doctrinal position held by the Mennonite Brethren in Russia, and in 1902 formally adopted the Glaubensbekenntnis der Vereinigten Christlichen Taufgesinnten Mennoniten Brüdergemeinden in Russland of 1902.

By 1909 the constituency of the Mennonite Brethren Conference had spread over a large area in the United States and extended into Canada. Since it now became too difficult and too expensive for the conference to convene annually and have a fair representation of delegates from all the churches, it was divided into district conferences, each of which would hold an annual conference, do its own home mission work, and regulate the affairs of its churches. The Mennonite Brethren General Conference has since 1909 met only once every three years to provide for the activities that concern the entire church. The four district conferences at that time were (1) the Canadian, formerly known as the Northern, comprising all the Mennonite Brethren churches in Canada; (2) the Central, including those in Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana; (3) the Southern, representing those in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas; (4) the Pacific, comprising those in California, Oregon and Washington. The Mennonite Brethren General Conference through its respective boards submitted reports of its activities to the district conferences. In 1948 the conference of MB churches in Paraguay and Brazil was received into the General Conference as a district conference.

Foreign missions have since 1909 had an important place in conference activities, have received the wholehearted support of the constituency, and have a record of expansion and growth. In addition to the mission to the Comanche Indians and the one in southern India, the conference, in the first half of the twentieth century, worked in South China, West China, the Belgian Congo, Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Ecuador and Europe. From the beginning of its foreign mission enterprise until 1954, the Conference sent out 228 missionaries. The conference has also done mission work among Russians living in Canada and in North Dakota.

The conference expanded its publication efforts and in 1913 erected in Hillsboro, KS a new publishing house. The conference continued to produce the German periodical, Zionsbote, and in 1951 the English paper, Christian Leader, became an official organ of the General Conference. Much material for Sunday schools was also published.

A city mission under the direction of the Conference City Mission Committee was begun in Minneapolis, MN. in 1910, and among the Jews in Winnipeg, Man. in 1948. All city mission work except the above-named stations was done through the boards of the several district conferences that operated under the General Conference. This city mission work grew to be quite extensive.

An awareness of the need for higher education and for trained workers in congregations and mission work constantly increased, and in 1933 the conference took over Tabor College, Hillsboro, as a conference school. It operated this institution by its educational board.

With the after effects of the two world wars the need for extensive relief arose. The conference, through its General Welfare and Public Relations Committee, endeavored to do its share in alleviating the suffering as well as in rehabilitating displaced Mennonites and other suffering people. The conference worked closely with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

Among the leaders who rendered valuable service to the conference in the first half of the century were Abraham Schellenberg, Heinrich Voth, John F. Harms, M. M. Just, N. N. Hiebert, Abraham L. Schellenberg, H. W. Lohrenz, Heinrich S. Voth, P. C. Hiebert, A. E. Janzen, P. H. Berg, P. R. Lange, H. D. Wiebe, B. B. Janz, A. H. Unruh, and Bernhard J. Braun.

At the 1936 conference a thorough revision of the constitution was accepted. Its new provisions covered all phases of conference work. The Committee of Reference and Counsel had the general oversight of the church and took care of its spiritual welfare; the Board of Trustees held in custody and managed the property and funds; the boards for foreign mission, city missions, publication, education, general welfare and public relations, Sunday school, youth, executed the work entrusted to them.

A number of significant developments have taken place with respect to the Mennonite Brethren Church in North America since the middle of the 20th century. One of these was the merger with the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Conference in 1960. This marked the culmination of a series of contacts and cooperative activities almost since the beginning of both groups' North American experience. The earliest merger proposals were already discussed in the 1870s, and there had been cooperative efforts, especially in education. Between 1949 and 1960 the merger issue was a constant agenda item. A particular problem that had to be resolved was the nature of the KMB missions program, which was carried on under the auspices of a number of mission boards. Other concerns such as the relatively small size of the KMB conference were, no doubt, also factors. Nevertheless, in 1957 the churches of the KMB conference decided by a two-thirds majority to merge with the Mennonite Brethren Conference and the formal merger ceremony took place in Reedley, CA on 14 November 1960 at the occasion of the centennial general conference sessions of the MB church. The KMB membership at the time was 1,648 and the conference was supporting 31 missionaries in nine countries. The merger brought six black congregations from North Carolina into the new MB conference, as well as a significant number of members who had left Hutterite communities in South Dakota and other areas to join the KMB.

With the rapid growth in membership of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren churches in the years after World War II, there followed an increasing trend toward a greater degree of independence on the part of the Canadian churches. Indeed, by 1951 the membership of the Canadian District had already exceeded that of the other three districts combined. At the general conference sessions in Hillsboro, KS in 1954, the issue of independence came to a head and the concept of "area conferences" emerged. Each area (United States and Canada) took on major responsibility in such matters as higher education, church schools, youth work and home missions. The Canadian Conference withdrew its support of Tabor College. In 1981 further significant constitutional changes were effected. In 1993 the work of the general conference was carried on by five boards: Board of Faith and Life, Board of Missions and Services, Board of Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Board of Resource Ministries, and Board of Trustees.

One of the most significant changes has taken place in the area of education and the training of church leaders. Whereas various undergraduate theological programs largely met the needs for the training of church leaders in earlier years, the demand for graduate training increased at the same time that most churches moved to full-time pastoral ministries, and in many cases to the employment of two or more salaried full-time staff in leadership positions. Seminary education had begun at Tabor College, Hillsboro, KS (1944) and was moved to Fresno, CA (1955), where the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary was begun, but without the support of the Canadian constituency. In Canada, where ministerial preparation had largely been done at the Mennonite Brethren Bible College, a Bachelor of Divinity program was begun in 1961. This program was phased out in 1971 and a study commission was appointed to study the alternatives for higher theological education in Canada. This resulted in the decision for a seminary sponsored jointly by United States and Canadian Mennonite Brethren, to be located at Fresno. This became a reality in 1975. Since that time many pastors and church workers have been trained at MBBS in Fresno, although undergraduate schools also continue the training of church leaders, especially in Canada, where the lay ministry and multiple ministry remained operative in many churches for a longer period of time. The seminary, together with the Mennonite Brethren Bible College, Tabor College, Fresno Pacific College, and the Board of Christian Literature jointly publish the journal Direction, a successor to the Voice and the Journal of Church and Society. The Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno houses the archives of the North American conference, whereas the main archives for the Canadian and United States conferences are housed at Winnipeg and Hillsboro, respectively. A Historical Commission appointed by the seminary board directs the work of the center in Fresno and works cooperatively with the other two centers.

The work of the Board of Missions and Services has continued to expand. At the general conference sessions in Reedley in 1984 one hundred years of foreign missions was celebrated. At that time the conference was supporting 137 missionaries in 23 countries with a budget of over five million dollars. Whereas earlier most of the administrative work was centered in Hillsboro, various factors made it desirable to create two national offices, one of which is located in Winnipeg. The offices of the general secretary of the mission board as well as a number of other offices are also located in Winnipeg.

In the area of publications, much of the work is done independently by the two national conferences, each having its own periodicals. As of 1998, the U.S. Conference was still publishing Christian Leader as its official organ, while the Canadian Conference has since 1962 published Mennonite Brethren Herald as its official paper. The Board of Christian Literature has published quite a number of significant books and pamphlets of special interest and value for Mennonite Brethren. Included among these are John A. Toews, A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church(1975), and Peter M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (1978), translated from German (1911). Kindred Press is now the official Mennonite Brethren publishing agency, with offices in both Hillsboro, KS and Winnipeg, MB.

Important changes have also taken place in the area of church music. In 1963 the compilation of a new hymnal for the use of both the United States and Canadian conferences was authorized and the result was the publication in 1971 of the Worship Hymnal (Board of Christian Literature). This hymnal has been used very extensively, although some churches have also made extensive use of other hymnals and song books. As rapid changes continued to take place in music in subsequent decades, a further step was taken with the publication of Sing Alleluia, a supplement to the earlier hymnal, in 1985.

The Board of Christian Education has been particularly involved with the production and use of Sunday School literature for the churches. This is an issue on which unanimity has been impossible to achieve. Full participation with other Mennonite conferences in the production of materials such as the Foundation Series has not been possible, although there has been some cooperation in that venture. There has also been some cooperation with other publishers, such as Scripture Press, but in general there is wide divergence in the type of material that is used by the Mennonite Brethren congregations.

The Mennonite Brethren Church has continued to struggle over the years with the issues of nationalism, regionalism, and fragmentation. Although a cooperative seminary program has helped to counteract some of the tendencies, there have been many forces which have threatened the unity of the conference. Theological diversity has developed not only because of the continued training of young people and church workers in a variety of North American institutions but also because of the influence of the mass media and the forces of general acculturation. Mennonite Brethren are no longer primarily a people of the land but are largely urbanized, are represented in virtually every profession and are scattered geographically throughout North America. Consensus on many issues, whether related to ethics, theology, or worship style, is difficult or impossible to achieve. A revision of the Mennonite Brethren confession of faith was completed in 1976, but the long process demonstrated an increasing divergence on many issues.

In 1982 a profile of church members was conducted in an effort to update the findings of the Kauffman and Harder study of 1972 (Anabaptists Four Centuries Later, 1975). The findings, which were published in Direction (Fall 1984), revealed a number of trends, some of which were quite disconcerting. Although Mennonite Brethren in North America were strong in their affirmation of the Christian faith, there was a great disparity between faith and practice. The discipleship and peace emphases appeared to be eroding and the study revealed that this was particularly true among leaders. Fewer than half of the respondents agreed that Christians should actively promote the peace position. Loyalty to the local congregation appeared to be weakening affirmations of denominational identity. There was an increasing trend toward an individualistic and pietistic view of Christianity and an erosion of the corporate and sectarian views.

While many have felt that the Mennonite Brethren Church faces a crisis in terms of its own identity, significant steps have been taken to reaffirm the church's historic identity and awaken a new sense of mission in the world today. The Board of Reference and Counsel in particular faces the serious challenge of seeking to create a vision for the church's task. More positive indicators are the strong evangelistic emphases evident in many churches; these have resulted in significant growth. Old ethnic and cultural barriers have been broken in many places and the influx of members from many different backgrounds, including Chinese, French Canadian, Spanish, and Vietnamese, portend a bright future for the church if it can realize a new sense of its distinctive mission within the North American environment. As of 1990, 317 churches with a total membership of 43,452 belonged to the conference.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 672-673; v. 5, pp. 557-559. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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MLA style: Lohrenz, John H. and Abe J. Dueck. "General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1990. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G463ME.html>

APA style: Lohrenz, John H. and Abe J. Dueck. (1990). "General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 09 May 2008 <http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/G463ME.html>