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

fence of her independence, the Kleine Gemeinde blazed the trail for the M.B. Church, whose most closely related Mennonite sister church she has become in the form of the Krimmer M.B. Church in the United States, which is a deepened and improved extension of the old Kleine Gemeinde. m) A. Friesen ’s skillfull answer, radically condensed, follows: “To the Rev. Elder Bernhard Fast, and all his co-workers! We wish that much grace, salvation and blessing from the boundless fullness of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen. "Although we received your letter of February 23 with the deepest of anticipation, we nevertheless noted in it a negative response to our wish and heart’s desire, which saddens and humbles us deeply in our present state, all the more so since you view our cause with such suspicion and deny our request without attempting to convince us, from Documentary Supplement 135 the Scriptures, of our errors. However, we comfort ourselves with the words: ‘For the Lord will not forsake His people. . . Ps. 94:14, 15. [A bone of contention between the two was the matter of attestations which the traditional church required of those coming to her from the Kleine Gemeinde, but which the latter refused, declaring that it bound their consciences. Because of this the Kleine Gemeinde was accused of creating ‘disorder.’] Finally you earnestly advise us to depart from all partisanship and join an organized congregation. . . . How is it possible, beloved, that you so earnestly advise us to join an organized congregation? Do you not know that much uncleanness and disgrace lies hidden there and that a little leaven will leaven the whole lump? I Cor. 5:6. Do you not notice a greater spirit of partisanship in the organized congregations than in ours? [Cf. further: ‘Lichtenau’ and ‘Heinrich Wiens.’] And where, in such a setting, would be that united building to which you advise us? Do you not, on the contrary, experience a violent sense of indignation and antipathy toward all the human ordinances in those formal congregations, for which, according to your own statement, you have neither help nor solution? [The Kleine Gemeinde eagerly co-operated with the Agricultural Society; her members were excellent although very simple farmers, a fact the Lichtenau Church, among others, viewed as manifesting an anti-Christian spirit.] Be assured, beloved, that we will no longer submit to all of this nor will we fellowship with the unproductive works of darkness (Eph., 5:11), since God has persuaded us to something different. And even though we should never attain to the stature of a formal congregation here on earth, we shall be content to live in the grace of God and His fellowship in order, eventually, through grace to attain eternal salvation. “And since you have irrevocably denied us our desire we find ourselves compelled to submit ourselves to our brethren and await, as God wills and we live, an oppo