268 / A Conference in Transition

in his address cited the problem of making persons of various backgrounds feel at home and be genuinely accepted in Ohio and Eastern Mennonite churches. The 1964 conference report in the Ohio Evangel expressed a concern about racial prejudices. One indication of their concern is to be seen in the appointment of a Secretary of Race Relations by the conference.'

Among the conference's problems (somewhat related to the above) has been that of admitting persons to church membership who had been divorced and remarried, or similarly involved in marital irregularities. After many years of study and discussion the 1964 conference adopted the stance, "that we maintain our strong stand on the sanctity of marriage and our refusal to recognize divorce and remarriage in the brotherhood but that we recognize spiritual rebirth in new converts as the basis for membership without reference to their former life."'

Change in Minister's Role

Of all the changes in the life of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite conferences, few have been more important than the change in the minister's role. The traditional minister was usually a farmer who preached perhaps every two or four weeks and who attended only one or two conferences a year. Administrative work was usually not a heavy burden. His library was a modest one of commentaries and volumes on Bible doctrine.

The minister of the present day is often supported at least in part by his congregation. He preaches oftener, attends more meetings, and is responsible to a degree for the numerous church organizations that are in the congregation. Naturally his work calls for more formal education and a larger library. Numerous activities make demands upon him in such a way that Mennonite ministers have come to resemble more and more the clergy of the typical American denomination. Perhaps few changes in the last few generations are of greater importance than this one.

A Conference Periodical Informs and Promotes

The many activities of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference are now fortunately recorded in a periodical known as the Ohio Evangel. In 1947 the Ohio Mission News Bulletin was published to promote missions. From 1945 to 1952 it was known as the Ohio Mission Evangel and after 1953 as Ohio Evangel. The