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divine ordinances. Jury service was disapproved; musical instruments were discouraged. Insurance and the use of lightning rods were opposed. (The latter was an issue as late as 1909 when a discussion on the use of lightning rods was tabled.)'

However, it is in the conference minutes of 1884 that one finds one of the most detailed accounts of the struggle which Mennonite churches were having with "the world." The conference was held at the Salem Church in Allen County on May 15 and 16. Brethren were advised not to sign a petition to pardon or reprieve a criminal. Any brother who forged a check was to be excommunicated. Voting by members in political elections, and especially by ministers, was disapproved. Insurance in worldly insurance companies was prohibited, and no minister should serve as a school director. Anyone joining the church who had been a member of a secret society must prove by a certificate that he had left the secret society.

A lengthy resolution of this conference affirmed that "Christian people are to be a separate people and not conformed to the world." There was a plea to conform to "plain costume in order that there may be a more general uniformity." A detailed discipline was set forth which included nonswearing of oaths, nonresistance, non-litigation, and nonsecrecy. Members were not "to serve in worldly office above school director and supervisor." No more than legal interest was to be exacted. Attendance at fairs, circuses, theaters, horse races, baseball games, "or any other foolish pastime" was prohibited.

Men members were to dress plainly and not cut their hair after the fashions. Moustaches were proscribed, and if a beard was worn it should be plain. Jewelry, watch charms, rings, or studs were not allowed. Women were to wear the devotional covering as a token of subjection and were to abstain from wearing jewelry, gold, pearls, laces, unnecessary buttons, breastpins, or bracelets.

Homes were not to be adorned with lace curtains, unnecessary moldings, or scalloped window hangings. "We should not have the walls hung with pictures, paintings, likenesses; neither should we have ornamental furniture knowing that what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." Luke 16:15. "Our buggies and harness should be plain to correspond with our plain apparel." Since Scriptures forbid "the taking of likenesses" the conference advised "the brethren and sisters to be careful, yea, very