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

five itinerant preachers were chosen, namely Eduard Leppke, Christian Schmidt, Johann Wieler, Aron Lepp and Daniel Fast. For the first two of these a salary of 400 rubles and for the last three 200 rubles was decided upon because the latter wished to pursue their earthly occupations in addi- tion to proclaiming the Word. Then it was decided that each itinerant preacher should keep a diary which was to be sent quarterly to the secre- tary, Br. Johann Friesen in Einlage, on the basis of which the committee would prepare a quarterly newsletter and distribute the same according §207 476 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH to their discretion, to the churches, so that the congregations become aware of the labors of the brethren and that interest for missions be awakened more.” This concludes a very short but very significant chapter. We see that the first annual conference established a precedent for decades, for to this day the M.B. conference churches move virtually within the same paths. This involuntarily occasions the question: has today’s itinerant ministry grown proportionally? Then we had three congregations with ca. 600 members, today twelve churches (12 elder circuits with ca. 50 fellow- ships observing communion and as many elders and leading ministers) and over 6000 members (in Russia). But we must consider the foreign missions in India, which is relatively large and demanding in personnel and money, as a balancing factor. In addition the individual congregations often engage in an unrecorded itinerant ministry (i.e. guest preaching) as has always been the Mennonite custom. XXIX. THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCHES IN RUSSIA FROM 1872/73 TO 1885: THAT IS, UNTIL THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY A. The Einlage M.B. Church 1872/73-1885 §208 1. During this period this church played a dominant role because of its energetic organizational work within the church itself as well as in the whole M.B. Conference, just as Molotschna had done previously. §209 2. A Baptist as “Super-Mennonite” (essentially based on Heinrich Epp’s account). After 1872 Br. Eduard Leppke, 268 a Baptist from Prussia, was active as itinerant minister in the M.B. Church [Br. Wilhelm Schulz, also a Baptist, likewise worked here as itinerant minister in 1873. In the region of the Don he ran into difficulty with the police and left the country. He was a foreigner]. Eduard Leppke “came to a different conviction” and no longer accepted the Baptist but rather the Mennonite doctrinal teaching— indeed, in such an extreme form, “that he erroneously taught that only nonresistant Christians can be saved”; in other words, only Mennonites. However, he frequently carried on a very blessed ministry by means of his winsome and attractive private talks. Nevertheless, because of his extreme teaching he came into conflict with the whole conference of the M.B. Church. In spite of this he continued ministering for a long time both in the Einlage as well as