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

ith loud songs of joy,” Psalm 47:1. This was the manner in which they conducted their meetings [in quite the same manner we have seen earlier in the Molotschna]. “They did not allow any sermons, and yet they praised God and th ank ed Him.” However, even this fell more and more by the wayside, and “eventually their meetings were little more than a time of entertainment; they played and danced until they were soaked with sweat.” "Yet they were to have nothing to do with the excommunicated [of Unger’s group] it was said. These “children of God” treated the excommunicated in exactly the same manner as the children of this world had earlier treated them. They obeyed the Scripture passage, “Salute no one on the road (Luke 10:4)” to the letter, with the result that many who felt close to the brethren were turned away. And finally at a church business meeting in Einlage, the two ministers [they called themselves apostles] Gerhard Wieler and Benj amin Becker pronounced the ban upon one another. Each wanted to be the greatest. [However, they were soon reconciled and continued to exercise their domination jointly.] 3. The false teaching [of the “Exuberants”] was brought to us from the Molotschna brethren by G. Wieler and B. Becker, and from the Molotschna also came our help. It became clear to Brother Johann Claassen that the direction was quite wrong. Claassen came to Einlage and talked to the brethren in error, telling them that their path was not the right one. Since Claassen was a gifted and respected man, his words made a powerful impression upon these brethren. Yet, they could not immediately accept what he said and so a few of them drove to the Molotschna to ask advice of the brethren of their movement. These had, however, already confessed their errors. That left the “exuberants” of Einlage with little choice but to confess that they too were in the wrong. “We have done evil,” they said. “Shame has been brought upon the people of God before the world!” [Merely before the “world?”!] The world exulted and said: “Did we not tell you?” The Minister Neufeld came to see that he had allowed himself to be misled by false brethren and that he had himself misled the church. 122 Thus, in the late summer and fall of the year 1865, the congregation came together to confess that the “frenzy and dancing” [and that rough treatment accorded dissenters and unbelievers] had been wrong, and decided to direct its steps onto another path. [Brother G. Wieler was at that time again in prison in Ekaterinoslav, this time because of baptizing Russian people, and after his quick return was not in agreement with the new order of things. Compare above #126, June, 1865, Minutes, as well as #191, “Supplementary Documents.”] Local Councils against Einlage 327 4. During the time when the congregation lay so wretchedly prostrate, § 148 the government granted the brethren permission to establish a settlement in the Kuban region (M