A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

orities was the response of the tolerant elders of the Ohrloff Church. The ailing elder Bernhard Fast resigned from his office and ordained Johann Harder as his successor on March 17, 1860. The new elder was a man of moral integrity and of deep concern for the spiritual renewal of the church. He shared the conviction of his predecessor, that more firsthand information on the new movement was necessary before any verdict could be reached. To obtain this information, four brethren (the three deputies and Heinrich Huebert) were invited by the Church Council (Kirchenvorstand) of Ohrloff for discussion and consultation. (It should be mentioned that Huebert had been a highly respected member of the Ohrloff Church.) This was the first direct official contact of any leaders of the "old" church with representatives of the Brethren. The Brethren were shown a copy of the report of the five elders, and were asked to prepare a written response. In this document, to which thirty-three signatures are attached, the Brethren refute the charges of the five elders. In their introduction they point out that they have not renounced the Mennonite Brotherhood, but only the corrupt churches. More specifically, they refute several accusations as follows (given in brief): First, a) Our exposition of Scripture is not one-sided. If this were so, why have they (the elders) not responded to our plea to prove from Scripture that we are wrong. THROUGH STORM AND STRESS 43 b) We respect church organization (Kirchenordnung) , as can be seen from our statement of January 6. c) We do not consider ourselves the only true Christians, and are ready to concede at any time that there can be other true Christians, known only to the Lord. Second, We do not intend to form a new religious society, but to live as Mennonites according to the confession of our Fathers, in peaceful co-existence with others. Third, We have not severed our relationship with the Mennonite Brotherhood, as stated above. With joy we would even now (at this late hour!) return to our churches and assist them in building and planting, if the ministers (Lehrer) would earnestly oppose corruption according to the Word of God." This explanation, received directly from the Brethren, served as the basis of Elder Harder's further communications with the administrative officials. In his first letter, dated March 25, 1860, Harder states that the Brethren are open to instruction and correction, and that they have even expressed a desire to return to their churches. To achieve such a reconciliation, however, he recommends "another way," the way of genuine reform on the basis of Scripture. 18 This "other way" was not acceptable to the five elders, nor to the administrative officials in Halbstadt. Elder Harder received another curt letter from the Colony Administrative Office in which he was advised to give clear and definite answers to the three specific questions submit