U. S. Mennonites are a quiet, pious Protestant sect, holding the tenets of Menno Simons, 16th-Century Netherlander. Most of the sect's 40,000 "plain" Mennonites live in the Pennsylvania Dutch (German) counties of Pennsylvania. Each plain Mennonite Meeting House has two ministers, two deacons, the latter serving for life. Last week, in the meeting house of Blooming Glen, Pa., nearly 500 Mennonites enjoyed the rare experience of seeing a deacon chosen to replace one who had died.
Four Mennonite bishops sat facing the congregation. One of them took seven Bibles, slipped a paper...