A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

rrested and deported. His ministry, however, marks the beginning of a new period of constructive development in the Chortitza Mennonite Brethren Church. An analysis of the problems of the Mennonite Brethren Church during this early period leads to the conclusion that the divinely ordained role of the leadership for congregational life was not sufficiently recognized and appreciated by most members. The negative reaction against the arbitrary and oppressive leadership of the established church influenced the Brethren (no doubt unknowingly) to develop a negative attitude toward a properly constituted, scriptural FAITH IN FERMENT 55 authority of the ministry. At times, equality and fraternity were emphasized at the expense of proper authority. 2. The Mode of Baptism Contrary to popular opinion, the question of the mode of baptism was not an issue for the first group of Brethren. In the Document of Secession they simply stress the importance of believer's baptism: "Concerning baptism we confess it to be upon faith, as a seal of faith, but not upon a memorized belief as it is now being practiced. . . . " 12 In 1837, Jacob Reimer, one of the early leaders, had already begun to question whether sprinkling or pouring were biblical modes. As an eighteen-year-old, before his baptism, he had read the biography of Anne Judson and had expressed the desire to be baptized by immersion. When he asked his father whether there were still people who baptized by immersion, the latter answered that he had learned to know such people in Prussia in 1835. (The German Baptist Church originated in 1834.) The first baptism by immersion, according to early records, was performed on September 23, 1860. The Origin of the Mennonite Brethren Church by Jacob Becker throws some light on the development that led to the introduction of the practice of immersion in the Mennonite Brethren Church. He writes: At that time (June 1860) we knew nothing about immersion. . . . After three months, however, two sisters who had not as yet been baptized by sprinkling in the church, desired to be baptized by us. Their testimony before the congregation was satisfactory, and I was to perform the baptism. Then he who had been in Petersburg (Claassen) took me aside and asked: If you are going to baptize how are you going to do it; are you going to sprinkle and pour? This to me was a strange language, and I didn't know how to answer. 13 Subsequently the mode of baptism became a central issue for study and discussion and added to the religious ferment in the new church. Claassen had cited several New Testament illustrations and had given Becker a pamphlet on baptism. Becker studied it carefully with his friend Heinrich Bartel. They both came to the conviction that they had not been baptized on true faith, nor by the proper mode, and that they themselves would need to be baptized before they could baptize others. Fearful lest the elders and