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

on to the Red Cross for war needs. It is keen in the pastoral care of members and in church discipline. This young and not very large M.B. Church, at whose head stands one of our formerly prominent elementary school teachers (at present, January, 1910, Br. David Duerksen is unfortunately seriously ill 347 ), has placed a large percentage of young men in the ranks of our intellectual and spiritual workers. Besides the two Kroeker brethren, and the above- mentioned missionaries, Heinrich and Cornelius Unruh, there must be mentioned here the brothers of the latter, Abraham Unruh (graduate of the Ohrloff Secondary School and the Halbstadt teacher-training course), teacher and preacher, formerly of the Crimea, now in Barvenkovo (see above, Petrovka-Naumenko), and Benjamin Unruh (graduate of the Ohrloff Secondary School, the Halbstadt teacher -training course, and the evangelical seminary in Basel, Lie. th. from the University of Basel, at present instructor of religion and the German language in the Mennonite Business School in Halbstadt). A number of other young men, and women, are studying in a variety of institutions. 3. Questions which have troubled and still plague the church, are the question of marriage and the question which at present is disturbing all M.B. Churches, namely that of “open co mmuni on.” The first of these The M.B. Church 1885-1910 557 has been finally settled in the church of Einlage and the Molotschna in the spirit of sections 212 and 241, 6. The second is, as elsewhere in the M.B. Church, still pending. The stance of the church in the Crimea is mildly conservative, as is also that of its elder. The question regarding the Baptists (#201, 211, etc.) was a very sensitive one here, because a small Baptist Church in the Crimea could not achieve a regulated leadership for a long time. Now, praise God, the little “half sister” (the designation is not used in the same sense as the great Elder and Chief Shepherd uses it!) is independently organized, the church is led by its own ordained elder, Br. Eisemann, who has been confirmed by the government. Now this church need no longer trouble the sister M.B. Church for services of love, such as baptism, solemnization of marriages, etc. The relationship promises to become more a pleasant one because of the present equality. The perfect law of brotherly love, according to Rom. 12:10, Gal. 3:28, and I Pet. 1:22, has not remained untarnished here, and the judging Shepherd will have to censure here as well. It is remarkable that the excellent report above does not refer to this group of “believing and baptized children of God” with as much as one single word! 4. This group does not have branch groups in the sense of affiliates. All groups together form one compact church with two centers where major meetings are held. These centers are Schoental, which has a building with a seating capacity of 600 (and could be increased considerably with the