tin.258 / One Faith-Many Works

as the Amish Mutual Fire Insurance Association was formed. By 1949 the total insurance in force exceeded $8,000,000 and the company was licensed in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The association includes not only persons of the eastern part of the Ohio Conference but also members of adjacent Mennonite conferences. The insurance policies cover farm buildings, dwellings, garages, churches, livestock, and farm machinery, with automobiles and trucks covered against fire and theft. Members of the board of directors give their services without any salary.

Another mutual aid organization is the Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company of Orrville, Ohio. 9 It was founded in 1895 by J. M. Smucker, C. Z. Yoder (a prominent churchman), and Adam Martin. This organization provided economical insurance to members who had suffered loss due to fire. Originally intended for members of the local area, it grew to be statewide and served many Mennonite communities in Ohio. In its first fifty years it changed officers only a few times. J. M. Smucker was president for forty-four years and D. C. Hostetler was secretary-treasurer for forty-nine years.

Many of the Ohio and Eastern Conference members in Pennsylvania have been associated with the Goodville Mutual Casualty Company which dates from 1926.'° Located at Goodville, Pennsylvania, the company has provided an economic and efficient insurance service for automobile owners. Its program in recent years has extended into other states including Ohio.

Throughout the minutes of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference there are frequent references to the prohibition of life insurance for the members. The major reason for this was simply the belief that it was the duty of the family and church to provide economic security for members of the brotherhood. If life insurance as it is commonly known were allowed, members would feel less responsibility for their fellow members. Few issues in the conference have been as problematic as this one.

Another argument advanced against ordinary life insurance was that it implied a trust in man and not in God. There was also the matter of being unequally yoked with "unbelievers." Others saw life insurance as merchandising in human life by putting a value on a person. Besides these arguments it was claimed that life insurance companies did not always meet their obligation or at least could not always help the most needy. The above objections were voiced in the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference churches