I Wish I'd Been There

MHB readers respond to the question: What is the one event in Anabaptist-Mennonite history you wish you could have witnessed--and Why?

I Wish I'd Been . . .

Among the Illinois Bishops in the 1940s.

by V. Gordon Oyer

The points in history which most fascinate me are those at which the intangible - belief and doctrine - grow increasingly dissonant with the tangible - practice and material/cultural environment. The struggles of individuals and groups reconcile these divergences reveal much about what it means to be a human in pursuit of the divine.

A recent era that reflects such a struggle centers around issues confronted by Illinois Mennonite Conference leaders in the 1940s. During the preceding decade, Illinois Mennonites earned a growing reputation as inappropriately lax in upholding the era's doctrinal regulations, and rumblings of expulsion from the Mennonite General Conference surfaced among sister conferences. As Illinois outreach activity escalated in the late thirties and early forties, their increasing focus on bringing non-traditional Mennonites into the fold clashed with traditional standards, some Illinois leaders felt nearly compelled to chose between their affiliation and their evangelistic programs. Compromise won out, though, and both continued.

By the end of the decade, however, these same leaders felt pressure from a cadre of younger ministers to expand boundaries ever farther. Though the conference "old guard" probably remained quite flexible relative to many from other regions, their own expectations failed to keep pace with those of several younger ministers. Feeling stifled, some of the younger leaders ultimately withdrew from the conference.

During this decade, then, as Illinois leadership sought to reconcile traditional practices with growing evangelistic expectations and emerging "Anabaptist Vision" understandings of the faith, they became caught between labels of "too liberal" for some and "too conservative" for others. To have been among them as they deliberated, observing their efforts to reconcile competing priorities in a rapidly-changing society would be instructive, I think. Of course, based on observations of current controversies, if I were to join them, I'd also want to retain my current perspective of hindsight as reassurance that after all the emotion subsides, life goes on and God remains with us.

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Mennonite Historical Bulletin, July 1998