HISTORICAL COMMISSION

Commission Members

Abraham Friesen, Chair
(Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Valerie Rempel
(Fresno, Calif.)
John H. Redekop
(Abbotsford, B.C.)
Marlyce Friesen
(Abbotsford, B.C.)
John B. Toews
(Vancouver, B.C.)
Paul Toews
(Fresno, Calif.)
Executive Secretary

Mandate: to collect and preserve the archives of the conference and nurture our historical consciousness.

Matthew 13:52 says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." The 20th century has been enamored by things new. Dress fashions, automobile styles and popular culture are faddish and have little staying power. Religious fads, programs and movements also come and go. In some of them we find new treasures. But many are only shimmering mirages that turn out to be dry watering holes. Amid the glamor of the new, we more than ever need the proven and the trusted. That need drives us back to the Scriptures and to the stories of God's dealing with His people in times past. In those stories we find the counterweight to the fleeting, we find the old treasure.

The Historical Commission seeks to preserve those treasures that come out of the nearly five centuries of Anabaptist-Mennonite Brethren history. Those treasures which we think of as old are being discovered by many as new insights. History has a way of playing tricks on us. The old and discarded becomes fashionable again. The marginal comes to be embraced by people at the center. So it is with our tradition. Many thoughtful Christians around the world are turning to the distinctives of our tradition and finding in them the real meaning of Christian faith for our time. Our commitment to authentic conversion offers freedom from the seductions of the world; our vision of the authority of the Scriptures offers a standard of judgment amid the pluralism and relativism of our age; our understanding of the church as community, a family with expectations and discipline, stands in contrast to the disorientation of the larger culture; our vision of discipleship that includes peacemaking and justice speaks powerfully to a world growing ever more violent. May we continue to witness to these old treasures so that others can find them as new treasures.

THE PAST (1995-1997)

Our work in the past biennium focused on the mandate given to us by the conference: to collect and preserve the archives of the conference and nurture our historical consciousness.

Archival Collection

Mennonite Brethren archival collection is carried out by four centers: the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Fresno, Calif. collects the materials of the General Conference and the Pacific District Conference; the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Hillsboro, Kan. collects the materials of the U.S. Conference and the Central, Southern, Latin American and North Carolina district conferences; the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Winnipeg, Man. collects the records of the Canadian Conference and the Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec provincial conferences; the Mennonite Archival Centre in Abbotsford, B.C. is responsible for the British Columbia provincial conference. The collections of these Centers are increasingly large and complete. The relationship between these centers is cooperative and complementary.

The centers rely on conference offices, congregations and individuals holding conference positions to turn over materials to the appropriate center once their term of office has been completed. It is the faithfulness of many donors that makes possible the preservation of the record of God's work among us.

The centers also collect the papers of individuals. Individuals and families wishing to preserve important papers (diaries, correspondence, photographs, unpublished writings, etc.) are encouraged to enter into conversation with the appropriate center about depositing such materials.

In all of these centers, the records are preserved according to the highest professional standards. Furthermore, they are inventoried and arranged so as to be of maximum use both to the donor of the materials and to researchers.

International Activity

The Center for MB Studies in Fresno, because it holds the archives of MB Missions/Services, also holds the materials necessary for understanding the history of many of our sister conferences around the world. Many of those conferences are also developing archival centers, and we are actively engaged in assisting them. During the past biennium, we have sent published materials to Zaire, India, Germany and Paraguay. We have also sent archival materials to some of these centers and are in conversation with others. The recent Mennonite World Conference in India provided an opportunity for conversation with various national conference representatives about working together on the exchange of materials.

The Commission has also been involved with the Aussiedler seminary in Bonn, Germany. Abe Friesen, the Commission chair, has lectured there annually for the past four years. Peter Klassen, long-time member of the Commission, has also lectured there during the past biennium. These lecture series have been important in the Aussiedler search for a historical and theological identity.

The demise of the Soviet Union and the new openness of many of the successor states has made available vast archives that will improve our understanding of Russian Mennonites and the early years of the Mennonite Brethren Church. We are working with other archival and historical agencies in North America, Germany and South America to procure those materials that are most relevant to our past.

Congregational Heritage Preservation Project

The 1993 General Conference convention unanimously endorsed the "Congregational Heritage Preservation Project". Since then, we have published Heritage Preservation: A Resource Book for Congregations, conducted workshops at all but one provincial/district conference and distributed copies of the publication to virtually all congregations in North America. This has aided many congregations in becoming more conscious of the need for systematic preservation.

Print Materials

This biennium has been an unusually busy one for the production of books on Mennonite Brethren history. Through our cooperative arrangement with Kindred Productions, we have released four volumes in our "Perspectives on Mennonite Life and Thought" series:

* Jacob A. Loewen and Wesley J. Prieb, Only the Sword of the Spirit (1997)

* Peter Penner, Russians, North Americans and Telugus: The American Mission to India (1997)

* Marvin Kroeker, Comanches and Mennonites on the Oklahoma Plains: A.J. and Magdalena Becker and the Post Oak Mission (1997)

* Abe J. Dueck, editor, The Mennonite Brethren Conference in Russia, 1872-1922: Documents of Identity and Mission (1997).

All four make significant contributions to our understanding of our history. Loewen and Prieb trace the development of Anabaptist-Mennonite Brethren peace theology from the 16th century to the present. Peter Penner and Marvin Kroeker narrate differing mission stories: The Mennonite Brethren mission to India was the first overseas mission work, but the mission to the Comanches was the first "foreign mission" of the North American conference. The availability of new archival materials from the former Soviet Union has permitted Abe Dueck to collect some important documents that fill gaps in the Russian Mennonite Brethren story.

In 1991 the Commission issued its first Basic Mennonite Library for Mennonite Brethren Congregations pamphlet. The intent was to assist church libraries in building a collection of Mennonite materials; it is the "indispensable" list that we think should be in every church library. A second edition (1997) has been mailed to all congregations in North America and selectively distributed overseas.

Another project is the P.M. Friesen History Essay Contest. We encourage MB students to write and submit papers on any aspect of Anabaptist-Mennonite Brethren history. This annual contest offers prizes in three categories: high school, college and graduate (including seminary). This is one of the small ways that we can follow the injunction of Psalm 78 to pass on to the next generation "the glorious deeds of the Lord and His might and the wonders that He has done". This year, we distributed posters announcing the contest to all of the larger congregations.

Menno Simons 500th Anniversary Lectures

1996 was the 500th anniversary of the birth of Menno Simons. The Commission brought that anniversary to our attention by sending Abraham Friesen, the Commission chair and an Anabaptist Reformation scholar, to 11 communities to deliver lectures on Menno and his continuing significance. Included were lectures at Columbia Bible College, Bethany Bible Institute, Concord College, Tabor College, Fresno Pacific College, MB Biblical Seminary and numerous congregations.

THE FUTURE (1997-1999)

Our continuing focus is to ensure that the treasures given to us are remembered and preserved. We will continue to remind conferences and congregations of the need to maintain records and to ensure that they are transferred to the appropriate archives.

We will also continue to work internationally to help other conferences better understand their own history and to help all of us in the international Mennonite Brethren community become more aware of our distinctive, yet shared stories.

Several publications are in process for publication during the next biennium. Among them is a book of memories of Mennonite survivors from Stalin's Russia.

A special focus of the Commission in the next biennium will be reaching out toward new people groups that are joining the Mennonite Brethren Conference. Many of these peoples bring interesting stories that flavor their understanding of Christian faith and that can give us broader conceptions of what it means to be the people of God. During the past biennium, we began a joint oral history project with some of the MB Slavic congregations on the U.S. west coast. As our peoplehood becomes more diverse, we want to nurture the historical consciousness of all of our people.

Matthew 13 concludes with the haunting words: "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." May it not be said that our "old treasures" are without honor in our midst.

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