154 / The Role of Conference in Transitions and Expansions

careful." Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:16; Isaiah 2:16. The regulation of equipment and furnishings extended even to the kitchen table: "We should use moderation in all things: Our tables should be set plainly at all times-not adorned with ornamental dishes, flowered cakes, etc." Finally, Matthew 18:15-18 was to be observed. In the 1889 minutes it was stated that a woman was not to preach or pray [audibly] in the church, "yet in her proper place her prayer should not be despised."

The above regulations are noteworthy because many of them were repeated during later conferences and some for many decades. The sense of separation from the world was strong and the regulation of the lives and conduct of the members was earnestly maintained; at least it was seriously attempted.

It should be said that similar attempts to regulate conduct and possessions were going on in all parts of the Mennonite Church. Indeed there is evidence of many parallels in other Protestant groups of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.'

A significant resolution which favored affiliation with the Mennonites who had recently migrated from the Ukraine in Russia to states in the Midwest was adopted in 1889. The right hand of fellowship was extended to Bishop Frederick Shartner in Turner County of South Dakota "and to all others who maintain the nonresistant doctrine, separation from the world, and are grounded on the doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and willing to accept the rules and ordinances of our church."

According to the 1892 report on the Ohio Mennonite Conference in the April Herald of Truth the conference had twenty seven organizations (congregations) in the state and 1,736 communicant members.

Conference was sometimes an occasion for evangelism. The 1893 conference, held at Martins meetinghouse, Orrville, Ohio, was such. M. S. Steiner remained with the congregation for the week and together with the congregation put forth efforts to win lost ones, efforts which were "richly blessed." The 1898 conference minutes refer to weaker congregations in Clark, Perry, and Ashland counties. Besides these there were needy congregations at Old Harmony, Ada, and Apple Creek.

The minutes of later years, such as those of 1897, 1898, 1899, and 1900, showed concerns for evangelism, earnestness in preaching, and Bible study. Weaker congregations in Clark and Perry counties,