Growth-and Some Decline-of the Churches / 91

Bible was their high calling. Prosperity and comforts were not the will of God. The cultivation of virtues, the practice of truthfulness, the avoidance of worldly display-these were the outward and visible expressions of the heart that was right toward God.

"A Covenant with God"

Conversion and uniting with the church were uppermost in the thinking, teaching, and preaching. Baptisms were reported faithfully and must have been occasions for great rejoicing and dedication. Special instructions were given to the youth of the church and they were challenged to be steadfast to their baptismal vows. In 1873, a B. F. Newcomer made a plea "to the young brethren and sisters in Allen County, Ohio" in these words:

I stood on the river bank when you made a covenant with God. You vowed a vow in the presence of a large multitude of people and in the presence of an All-wise, All-knowing, All-seeing and heart-searching God, before whom you

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Essay on Education Republished in 1861

In 1861 Mennonites of the Columbiana-Mahoning District published the third edition of Christopher Dock's Schul-Ordnung. Dock, German-born educator, migrated to Pennsylvania in 1714. A teacher in a Mennonite school in Montgomery County he wrote the first essay on education or pedagogy in America first published in 1770 by Christopher Saur in Germantown Pa. The 1861 edition was printed at The Gospel Visitor, a church periodical published by the German Baptist (Dunker) minister Henry Kurtz at Columbiana, Ohio. Jacob Nold, Jr. (17981864), a deacon in the Columbiana-Mahoning District was influential in sponsoring the publication of this important work.