274 / The Conference in Retrospect

Pennsylvania and the state of Ohio have become highly industrialized, and to a large degree Mennonites share in the transition that has taken place.

What stands out in the past of the conference which may be important for its future? What, especially, can be learned that will strengthen the unity of the conference? Something should be said about the schisms and their lessons. The processes of change deserve attention. More helpful might be an effort to understand what it was in the providence of God which made unity and growth possible.

How Explain the Schisms?

During the many generations of the Ohio Mennonite churches there have been several schisms. The historian's task is to study them, analyze them, and ascertain their causes insofar as possible. This task is not an easy one since data is always incomplete and time removes the historian from the scene so far that conclusions on such complex matters are all but impossible. Yet an attempt should be made to understand the divisions.

The nineteenth-century division which John Holdeman (18321900) led and the division led by Henry Egly (1824-90) of Indiana suggest that within the church there were desires for deeper spiritual life and that this desire was so strong that, if necessary, persons were willing to unite with separate congregations to realize their spiritual ideals. The founding of Reformed Mennonite churches, and their maintenance of a more strict and traditional discipline pattern, illustrates a type of division that sometimes comes when the larger church becomes less strict. The most important division of the nineteenth century among the Ohio Mennonites was the Wisler schism of 1872 which, imported from Indiana, was prompted by differences on the coming of the Sunday school and related innovations. There are some Mennonite historians who assess this division as one hastened by too rash a decision on Bishop Jacob Wisler's status, the view being that more patience might have prevented the schism. Had he not been so rashly excommunicated, the two factions might have come to respect each other and a way might have been found through the crisis. Others are not certain that this could have been accomplished. All will agree that skillful church administration could doubtless prevent divisions in many cases, and perhaps this was such an occasion.