The Rise of the Sunday School / 119

Bible study and knowledge. In some cases it did this by encouraging the study of the Bible in German; in other cases the Bible study was in English. In either instance the result was certain to produce a more alert church and one with greater awareness of what the Christian faith meant.

4. The Sunday school encouraged the growth of missionary vision and activity. Before the coming of the Sunday school scarcely any real missionary work was done by the Mennonite Church, though there may have been a few exceptions to this. After the coming of the Sunday school there was a steady growth in missionary interest and it is difficult to believe that the two were not related in some way. The lessons themselves often emphasized missions. The Sunday school conferences became occasions for promoting missions. This was especially true in the 1893 conference held at the Zion Mennonite Church at Bluffton, Ohio. Future candidates for mission work were often recruited from the ranks of Sunday school teachers and leaders. Offerings from the Sunday school were often used for the support of missionaries. There are many persons who believe that the coming of the Sunday school did more than any other single innovation to awaken the churches and give them vision for greater activity and service.