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

church during the past three years; when the men appeared and spoke a distorted doctrine, saying that some should be put out of the church, such as Hoppe and Strauss at first; secondly Abraham Comelsen, Heinrich and W ilhelm Bartel [the latter two were, together with Benjamin and J. Becker, for a long time the vigorous opponents of the first three; whose only guilt was that they had condemned the childish and false spiritual joy and freedom; see above, Bartel’s letter to Claassen, #115,h\, who were to be excommunicated, so that no one might have fellowship with them, nor eat or drink with them, nor greet or kiss them nor receive them into one’s home, lest their teaching be accepted and someone be led astray thereby. Dear brothers and sisters, if we today appear before the Lord and allow His Word to judge us, then our heavenly Father cannot look down with favor upon us, for we have all soiled our hands with the ban, some more, some less. First of all, we believe that God cannot be pleased with all those brothers and sisters, who have been an offence to our fellowship, and have not yet humbled themselves in this matter. I want to remind all of you, who are still at the Kuban, what happened two years ago when, before Claassen had returned from St. Petersburg, at the congregational meeting at Klassen’s in Lichtfelde, where the members— Bartel and the Kakbass brethren— agreed that Comelsen, Regehr, Wall, Penner and all those who had received Sister N, 197 should be regarded as banned, they were not to be greeted, nor was anyone to have fellowship with them. But how was this ban observed by some? I say no. Abraham Wiens and Cornelius Wiens soon gave offence in this matter to the church, as did Reimer and some others from Gnadenfeld who listened to the brethren from Kakbass, who only wanted to cause disorder and division among us— something in Documentary Supplements 421 which they were largely successful. In addition, after Claassen had returned from St. Petersburg, he tried to restore unity among us and the Kakbass brethren, which was contrary to the Word of God, and persuaded me and Huebert, Harms and many other brethren, not to shim them, as the Scriptures say and as had been decided in Lichtfelde. But Claassen presented the situation in such a way that they should also be regarded as children of God. Jakob Reimer also declared that, even though they had not humbled themselves, he could go to communion with the Kakbass brethren, provided Sister were not there. They then acted in accordance with their beliefs, except that they did not celebrate communion. Almost always, however, when they met these seducers, they would greet them. This was done by the brethren [Johann] Claassen, Jakob Reimer, Cornelius Reimer, Johann Strauss, when they returned home from the Kuban [Fall, 1862], but Br. [Gerhard] Wieler [who now as well as later had B. Becker under his influence] did not do this, and was accordingl