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

or. 3:11), of course not without struggles against enthusiastic ideas, especially against expressions of exuberance, for which purpose some repre- sentatives from the Molotschna and Chortitza areas had come along; also against so-called breakers of bread from the Volga, who according to Jesus Christ’s example broke the ordinary bread for eating instead of cutting it [making a great spiritual issue of it; see above 'Hermann Peters.’ These were former Lutheran ‘brethren,’ holding in the main to the opinion which they had received in the early '60s from the overly joyous from the Molotschna; they were called ‘Jaeckelsbrueder’ after their leader. Br. Peter Jaede of the Mennonite Brethren, with others, was one of them]. Through the grace of God the former came to naught already in the Molotschna among the sound brethren there, and First Annual Meeting 475 also found little enduring support here, so that when the emigration to America began, the representatives of both views also emigrated and from the New World asked for forgiveness, while others repented here. . . (See further . . till 1885”.) The Mennonite Brethren Church in the Kuban had 100 to 150 members at the end of 1872. XXVIII. FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED CHRISTIAN ANABAPTIST MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH IN RUSSIA ON MAY 14-16, 1872 The consultative meeting of the M.B. Conference churches re- presented, as we saw in the last chapter, a body of three congregations with over 600 brethren and sisters who had been baptized on their voluntary, trustworthy testimony of faith, the achievement of the first twelve years. Elder Unger relates the following about this conference in his report for 1872 of the Einlage congregation (Minutes not found): “Dear Brethren in Christ! Wonderful are the ways of our great God, and He leads all to a glorious conclusion. Now that our Einlage congregation has been in existence for ten years and the Molotschna con- gregation for twelve years, despite coming through many conflicts from within and without, these congregations are being regulated and grounded more and more on the basis of the Word of God. In this the brethren from abroad such as Benzien, Oncken and especially A. Liebig have been very helpful, for which we should be thankful to God and the loving brethren. Thus the grace of God has succeeded in calling to life, in Andreasfeld, an annual conference of all our congregations: from Einlage, Molotschna and the Kuban. With joy we recall the lovely days of May 14, 15, and 16 of this year [1872], where many brethren from near and far met to discuss the affairs of the Kingdom of God. Seven brethren were selected to form a missions committee [more correctly: itinerant preaching committee], namely: from Einlage Abraham Unger, Johann Friesen; from Friedensfeld Bernhard Dyck; from Odessa Johann Wieler; from Halbstadt Johann Fast; from Pordenau Franz Janzen; from the Kuban Daniel Fast. Then