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

EIR WAY INTO THE EINLAGE M B. CHURCH— ITS SUPPRESSION— THE KUBAN SETTLEMENT DISCREDITED. OLD DANZIG 1. "I must confess to my sorrow,” complains Brother Heinrich Epp §145 in his “Reports” of 1884, “what took place within the congregation. When the brethren Neufeld, Unger, Gerhard Wieler and Peter Berg returned from prison, the entire congregation came together desiring to learn what they had experienced and to hear what had happened to them. But what did we perceive? These men were not united in their understanding of the gospel! ” The other three could not agree with Wieler. Since Brother Wieler was eloquent and highly respected, he eventually won Brother Neufeld to his point of view. And since Neufeld too was highly regarded and clearly a gifted man, almost the entire congregation was won over to their side. “Now they fell from one error into another. Young women were not allowed to appear in public without caps (bonnets), even at their weddings, 121 giving other Mennonites occasion to ridicule them.” They were not allowed to hang pictures or wall mottos on their walls ; these were burned. Even the pictures in Christian books were destroyed. Hofacker’s Sermons, Arndt's True Christianity and many other books were burned as well [cf. #120], "an errorof which this writer [Heinrich Epp] was also guilty." Unger and a few other brethren, however, did not go along. Since Gerhard Wieler was the originator of this view [in the Einlage congregation], we soon came to realize that we had been misled: the very thing that he had strenuously forbidden, he had himself done [while in St. Petersburg, he had himself photographed]. Despite all this, the number of believers grew and a sizeable number were added to the church. 2. “The church at that time found itself on a slippery path. Unger §146 alone continued to stand firm with a few families. When he realized that he could not accomplish anything, he resigned as a minister, an action he later came to regret.” This state of affairs dragged on until the second holiday of Christmas, 1864. “At that point Neufeld and Gerhard Wieler flung an ultimatum at us, in these terms: ‘Whoever takes sides with Unger, can no longer be brother to us.’ ” “As a result, several families were excommunicated, specifically, the father of G.W., Johann Wieler, and his sons Johann and Franz Wieler, Abraham Unger, Heinrich Epp [the writer of the “Reports”], Cornelius Hiebert, Jacob Koslowsky, Peter Berg. [These were joined by others and Unger’s group soon formed the larger body.] The Neufeld-Wieler group seemed to “go from that point into uninhibited sound and fury.” They read the Word of God selectively; taking, for instance, 325 326 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH §147 Jeremiah 41:4 (should read 31:4): “And shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers,”; and Philippians 4:4 : “Rejoice in the Lord always ; again I will say, Rejoice.” “Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God w