A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

thren Church (Hillsboro, Kansas: M.B. Publishing House, 1952), pp. 53-54. 30. Stundism comes from the German Stunde, meaning "hour" (for worship and fellowship). This religious movement was caused by the Pietistic revival among Russians and Germans in the nineteenth century. See ME, IV, 649. 31. Quoted by G. Lohrenz, in A Legacy of Faith, p. 178. 32. As a member of a Baptist-Mennonite delegation to the U.S.S.R. in March, 1970, the author attended a meeting in Moscow in which Karev gave a historical survey of the Evangelical Christian-Baptist movement in which he stressed this influence. A mimeographed copy oF Karev's history, "The Russian Evangelical Baptist Movement" (English translation by Frederick P. Loman) is now available in the Archives of Pacific College, Fresno. Karev's account of the origin of the MJ3. Church is based on inadequate and sometimes false information. 446 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH 33. J. J. Toews, "The Missionary Spirit of the M3. Church in Russia," in The Church in Mission, edited by A. J. Klassen (Fresno, Ca.: Board of Christian Literature, 1967), p. 147. 34. Friesen, op. cit., p. 560. 35. Although young Abraham Friesen was then the right-hand man of his father in the latter's large and prosperous business concerns, he had the approval and blessing of his parents for this venture. G. W. Peters op. cit., p. 55. 36. J. J. Toews, in Church in Mission, p. 150. 37. Ibid., p. 151. 38. Ibid., p. 152. 39. Quoted by Friesen, op. cit., p. 377. 40. Ibid., p. 378. 41. Ibid. 42. Ibid., p. 379. 43. Steinbach was the center of "Mennonite aristocracy," the home of wealthy estate-owners {Gutsbesitzer) such as the Schmidt family. Here more liberal views with regard to communion had prevailed for some time. 44. As reported by Unruh, op. cit., p. 231. It seems strange that the question of communion, which originally had led to separation from the old church, now almost resulted in a schism within the M.B. Church. 45. Friesen, op. cit., p. 379. 46. Ibid., p. 440. 47. In 1930 the General Conference accepted a ruling permitting marriage with non-immersed believers. This ruling was rejected by the 1939 General Conference which returned to the earlier position. In 1948, finally, the conference made provision for the intermarriage of M.B. members with non-immersed believers. See Resolutions of the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church, 1878-1963 (Board of Reference and Counsel, 1964), p. 57. 48. Friesen, op. cit., p. 259. 49. See Klassen, "Roots and Development . . .," pp. 161-163. The Darbyite Ernst Stroeter introduced pre-miUennialism among the Mennonites of South Russia through these conferences. 50. Friesen, op. cit., p. 540. 51. Unruh, op. cit., p. 233; also Klassen "Roots and Development . . .," p. 164. 52. The Mennonites of Brazil and Paraguay continued the practice of having and inter-Mennonite K.f.K. to take care of all common rel