Author's Preface / 11

made available the papers of church leaders who were influential in the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference in the twentieth century.

Two persons with a lifelong interest in the conference, C. Z. Mast and John Umble, were both free to share their notes and leads on information. The former is a genealogist and the latter collected much data on the extinct communities and the origins of the Sunday school.

The conference Historical Committee consisting of Allen Ebersole, Wilmer Swope, Orland Grieser, James Steiner, and Vernon Kennel represented officially the interests of the conference. Wilmer Swope and Orland Grieser were especially helpful in amassing documents in their respective communities.

As the project drew to its close, the Mennonite Historical Society of Goshen College became interested in publishing the work as No. 13 in the Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History. To meet the requirements of these studies a committee composed of Melvin Gingerich, Guy F. Hershberger, and J. C. Wenger perused the manuscript and made numerous suggestions for its enlargement and improvement. The committee, all lifelong students of Mennonite history and thought, deserve the writer's gratitude for assuring a more thorough product.

The writer benefited in his graduate studies from the guidance of Dr. James H. Smylie, head of the Church History Department of Union Theological Seminary, for stimulating studies in the meaning and method of history and for fruitful studies in American religious thought and institutions. Dr. J. A. Ross Mackenzie gave the writer valuable insights into modern trends in European church history. The third member of the committee, Dr. H. McKennie Goodpasture, read the final manuscript from the viewpoint of an authority on the wider role of the church in its world mission.

In the publication of this work the seasoned editorial skills of Ellrose Zook, book editor of the Mennonite Publishing House, were quite useful and it is a pleasure to recognize his contribution.

Finally, a word of genuine appreciation is due to my wife and family for the cheerful cooperation and support they gave during the years when the volume was in preparation.

Grant M. Stoltzfus

October 1968