126 / Evangelism and Bible Conferences

Bible conferences flourished in the Mennonite churches, especially from about 1890 till about 1930.''

The conferences, sometimes called "Bible meetings" or "Bible normals," consisted of a series of meetings in local congregations at which visiting ministers spoke on topics of biblical doctrine and practical applications. The conferences were usually held in the wintertime when farmers were free from field work and able to attend the day-long meetings. Church members sometimes traveled long distances and stayed for an entire week in the community where a conference was going on. The speakers aimed to present material based on a thorough study of Bible passages. They often used the method of assigning Bible verses to persons in the audience who would read them and make comments. Questions from the audience were directed to the speaker who answered them.

An idea of the content of the Bible conferences can be easily gained by reading the correspondence in the Herald of Truth and Gospel Witness." In 1906 Daniel Kauffman and A. D. Wenger conducted a conference at West Liberty, Ohio. Wenger told of his journey to the Holy Land and apparently there was much interest. He continued to hold meetings for a week with eighty-five souls, mostly young people, confessing Christ. While in the community he ministered further to the cause of evangelism by addressing seventy-one of the converts on a Sunday afternoon at the South Union Church.

The January 8 and 15 issues of the Herald in 1903 tell of what must have been an outstanding conference at Elida, Ohio. Speakers were Daniel Kauffman, E. S. Hallman, S. G. Shetler, J. S. Shoemaker, M. S. Steiner, A. D. Wenger, and D. H. Bender. Topics were: Holy Spirit, Word of God, Christian Graces, Nonconformity, Secret Societies, Marriage, Prayer Head Covering, Life Insurance. Pride of life was denounced as it expressses itself in education, possessions, and recreation.

At a Bible conference in 1905 at Zion Church in Allen County, S. G. Shetler and George Lambert, the relief commissioner to India, spoke. "A novel feature of the conference is that a number of the topics are announced in the German language. The German topics are presented by Bro. Lambert.''2

In 1908 the January 15 issue of the Gospel Witness tells of a Bible conference at the Bethel Church at West Liberty where S. G. Shetler and L. J. Miller discussed among other topics the follow-