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elected from the local congregation. Marriage is restricted to members of the brotherhood. Considerable stress is laid on the doctrine of separation, though the command to evangelize may also be obeyed.

With the passing of time such a group undergoes changes brought about by forces within and without the group. Persecution ceases and the group tends to become culturally "respectable." Increase in wealth may make for class distinction even within a single congregation. Discipline becomes more difficult to carry out. There is less bearing of each other's burdens as time goes on, for wealth makes people more independent. Relaxation of various standards results in a different kind of church and community life-usually with trends in the direction of the surrounding society. Changes occur in worship practices, which often become more formal. Leaders are selected at least partly on the basis of their training. In some cases the processes of change continue until eventually the group ceases to be a distinctive people. Sometimes distinctive doctrines and "peculiar" practices are considered a hindrance to evangelism and are dropped for this reason. The group gradually becomes another denomination. '

The above changes or similar ones have been going on in various degrees in Mennonite churches throughout their more than four hundred years of history. The Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference can point to such transitions in every congregation and in the conference as a whole. The question that arises is: When are the changes for the good in the church's life and when are they adverse to the church's life? What can be done to direct changes in such a way as to make for a stronger and not a weaker church life? Throughout its long history the conference has faced this problem with both success and failure.

One source of tension throughout the history of the Ohio Conference appears to arise from pressure for the church to adapt to its environment in order to evangelize it, while also holding the belief that the church of Christ must be a distinct groupeven a remnant if necessary. In some instances the tendency has been to adapt to the extent that change begets more change and the church or a part of it blends with the "world" and largely loses its distinctive purpose and historic character. In other instances the desire to be the people of God has made the church a self-contained, isolated group that ministers, it would seem, only to itself, and neglects the