May 1, 1863 near Flora, Indiana (during the Civil War) was the occasion for a district meeting that brought the following Query:
A soldier comes under conviction while in camp, requests of the brethren to be baptized, and if not permitted to come home, requests the brethren to come to the camp and baptize him, promising that he will leave the service as soon as he can honorably do so. What will the brethren in this meeting advise the brethren to do in this case? Answer: It is considered advisable that such applicant should be received into the church.
Another Query asked: Is it right according to the Gospel for brethren to attend and participate in speaking at political meetings held by the people of the world in the present age? Answer: It is not right.
Query: Is it consistent with the Gospel and the order of the Old Brethren to sing such pleasing tunes at out communion meetings as are sometimes sung by the brethren, singing the different parts to the music? Answer: It is if we sing with the spirit and the understanding also.
This then was the "mind of the church" in the Southern District of Indiana on May 1, 1863.
Source: History of the Church of the Brethren in Indiana, 1952
