THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

r earlier homelands they had had nothing in common with one another. 26 The genesis and development of the M.B. Church in 1860 once again taught the Mennonite colonies to differentiate clearly between civil and ecclesiastical matters in accordance with the ancient evangelical Anabaptist precepts as Johann Claassen delineated them in his powerful and clearly written humble petition to His Imperial Majesty. It is our conviction that it was Gnadenfeld’s demonstrated feeble-heartedness of 1849 which laid the foundation for the further weakening of that congregation by the exodus of the “brethren” (1860) and the “Friends of Jerusalem” in 1863. The congregation could no longer retain, moderate, control or utilize and go forward with the help of the more energetic and extreme elements of the “brethren” (Johann Claassen of Liebenau, Jakob Reimer of Felsental and their associates) and the “Friends of Jerusalem” (the brothers Lange, Nicholas Schmidt of Steinbach and associates), nor could it remain in the forefront of the reforming and life-giving renewal movements as it had for a quarter of a century (1835-60). Having been revived and illuminated by the new life that had come to it from the Moravian Brethren and their evangelical pietism as a consequence of its openness, this congregation now failed to progress any further toward Menno Simons’ original position of a church composed of brethren baptized upon their confession of faith, 27 nor could it any longer transmit these vital elements to the other Mennonite churches. A number of these more vigorous opponents of the pietistic brethren had already left the congregation, welcoming Friedrich Lange’s offensive failure as an excuse to do so. Finally, there remained only the religiously indifferent and those of the more intelligent and genuinely converted elements who were more conservative or “churchly minded,” as the slogan since 1860 would have it. 28 Thus did Bernhard Fast rob the Gnadenfeld congregation of all its spokesmen! The members had hoped to call one of their current ministers as elder, but now they found themselves in a hopeless situation. It was not until 1851, when Bernhard 104 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 Fast and others arrived, that they were “allowed” to elect new ministers. Nicholas ("Klaas”) Schmidt of Steinbach and August Lenzmann of Gnadenfeld were elected. And only in 1854 were they “allowed” to elect an elder. In May of that year August Lenzmann was elected by a large majority of votes and ordained by Elder Bernhard Fast in the following September. (For more details regarding Bernhard Fast, cf. X. “Docu- mentary Supplement.”) 17. In spite of all these disheartening developments, the “brother- hood” continued to gravitate toward Gnadenfeld until 1858/59. (Lenzmann was looked upon as a cautious mainline churchman, but also as a “brother.”) Ohrloff was no longer the prime center of the “brotherhood” fellowship movement it had been during the