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

here, see his letter above]; “to greet those among the Wuerttemberg brothers and sisters [cf. below, ‘Pastor Wuest,’ #72] who are in Christ and not to quarrel over differing opinions. Nor did I have any desire to quarrel with you; rather I embraced the upright ones amongst you in cordial love and refreshed myself with them in Jesus. . . . The grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you! Amen. "I add a special greeting to you and yours, my dear Fast, and commend myself to your brotherly prayers before the throne of grace. Your fellow brother Saltet [Sallat?] Tiflis, July 27, 1825.” d) As many of the older generation will still remember, Schlatter, the Swiss missionary to the Nogai and son of the well-known song writer, Anna Schlatter, often associated with the group around Bernhard Fast. During this time Ohrloff, Rudnerweide and Alexanderwohl were as bold and free in their emphasis on the “universal Christian church, the fellowship of the saints,” without ecclesiastical barriers, as Gnadenfeld was later. It is regrettable that the local peace not only suffered necessary but also unnecessary evil disturbances! Documentary Supplement 143 D. Farewell Sermon of the Exiled Margenau Elder Heinrich Wiens, 1847 (Supplement to #37) a) In the midst of these disturbances we have arrived at a reading of this tract which acquaints us with Heinrich Wiens, the most important champion and martyr of the "large congregation” (Lichtenau — Petershagen — Margenau — Schoensee — Pordenau). 61 Jakob Warkentin, elder of the entire “large congregation,” (cf. above, #37,3) had been forced, on the order 62 of the Supervisory Commission in Odessa, to give up his office after seventeen years because of local political disorders and opposition to the progressive ordinances issued by the “Agricultural Society” (with Johann Comies at its head) and the Area Administrative Office. Warkentin’s influence as sole elder of the vast “large congre- gation,” which constituted a solid three-quarters of the Molotschna population, was regarded as the chief cause of these disorders. Tradition has it that the “large congregation” was forced to elect three elders in order to weaken its unity. On June 18, 1842, Minister Heinrich Wiens of Gnadenheim was elected in the Margenau Church and ordained as elder for Margenau-Schoensee by Elder Christian (?) Schmidt of Waldheim. (Wiens had been called into the ministry in 1825, soon after its founding by the “large congregation” under Elder Jakob Warkentin.) On September 2, in the Lichtenau Church, Duerk Warkentin of Petershagen was elected as elder for Lichtenau-Petershagen, and on September 9, Heinrich Toews of Pordenau was elected there; both were ordained by Heinrich Wiens. All of these facts are taken from the handwritten notes of a former Margenau minis ter and friend of Wiens, who was called into the ministry at the same time