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

cked something that could not be procured. I shared this with the brethren, who sought to comfort me with the baptism of the Spirit. Thus three years elapsed, until in 1861, news came from the Molotschna, stating that the brethren were baptizing. XX. THE INTRODUCTION OF BAPTISM BY IMMERSION IN THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH AND THE FOUNDING OF THE “EINLAGE” CONGREGATION The matter of baptism in the M.B. Church is treated in detail only at this point, in connection with the special history of the Einlage congregation, in order to avoid massive duplication. It took a different course in various congregations, as the reports and documents available to us show. 1. In the “Founding Document” of January 6, 1860, the Molotschna brethren emphasize the ancient evangelical- Anabaptist doctrine: “We confess a baptism in faith, as a seal of faith; not on a memorized faith . . . .” (Cf. #83 above.) The form of baptism is not yet mentioned. How the idea originated is shown by the reports of Johann J. Fast, Johann Wieler, Jakob Reimer, A. Unger, H. Epp and Aron Lepp. Here we immediately list the dates of the first baptisms according to a number of letters and especially from the Molotschna register of baptisms written by Elder Heinrich Huebert. The following were baptized at the Molotschna: on September 23, 1860: Jakob Becker and Heinrich Bartel (baptized each other); on October 9, Abraham Dyck and Bernhard Penner; on October 14, Isaak Koop (bom 1817). By spring, 1861, the practice of baptism by immersion is in full swing. In a letter by Jakob Baptism by Immersion 285 Reimer (Gnadenfeld) dated April 25, the question of whether one should baptize Wuerttemberg brethren from Wuest’s former church is already brought up, as well as what outward form should be used. Heinrich Huebert was baptized in May, 1861, and Jakob Reimer (Gnadenfeld) was baptized by Huebert after that, on May 21 of that year, on Sunday, two weeks before Pentecost; on this Sunday, 31 persons were baptized, including only three persons (Mennonites) who had not previously received another form of baptism. In the same year, November 1861, the first Chortitza Mennonite, Gerhard Wieler, was baptized in Berdiansk by brethren from the Molotschna. By October, 1861, most of the members of the M.B. Church, which then existed only in the Molotschna District, had already been baptized. Wilhelm Bartel was baptized on October 8. But baptism by immersion was not yet mandatory. Johann Claassen was baptized only after his return from Petersburg on June 30, 1862, other fullfledged members even later. Baptism (immersion) as a condition for membership and fellowship at the Lord’s table was first stressed by the Chortitza-Einlage brethren, when they declined the fellowship of the Lord’s table offered to them by Br. Benjamin Becker who had begun to visit them in the winter of 1861-1862, because they wanted to be “baptized first.” As we know, Abram Unger was al