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

the best people of the country,” we rejoice in that; but we also rejoice in the fact that every legislative project accepted by the legislative bodies will remain a document without consequence unless it has the sanction of the crown. What the center of the Duma has desired and discussed in matters of faith and education until now is quite sufficient for us Mennonites. If the respective authority during the present embarrassment (with regard to “baptism under an open sky”) of one group of Mennonites (not even the largest) immediately looked into the matter and solved the difficulty, we confidently believe that the proper imperial agencies, as eyes and ears of His Majesty, will take note and consider the great concern of all the Mennonites of Russia in a just manner. As long as we are in Russia, we fear, in the final analysis, only God and the tsar, and likewise we only trust in God and the tsar. And we confidently hope that our supplications, as in 1874, will not only come to the ear of God, but also to the ear of the tsar. We also believe that as subjects, citizens and Christians we will not only be able to live in Russia with an untroubled conscience, but that we will also be able to stand as a patriotic, Preservation of Independence 653 culturally-useful, small member in the large family of Russia (into which we have been adopted by Divine Providence), and will learn to do this more and more as a total body. 33 If individuals among us at times should act contrary to the general interest and to the law, then we as a fellowship of believers confess: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” We conclude this chapter with the minutes of the Schoensee Conference, and will then proceed to the question of how we “preach the gospel to the whole creation” outside “Christian denominations”— our foreign missions. c) Minutes of the Deliberations of the General Mennonite Conference at Schoensee on October 26, 27, 1910: First Day (October 26) Forenoon: After a brief, hearty word of welcome to all those present by the elder of the Schoensee congregation, Mr. Heinrich Peters, Elder Abraham Goerz, Ohrloff, gave the conference message based on I Peter 2:13-17. Represented were fifty-two congregations with 173 delegates. Afternoon: The leadership for the deliberations was assumed by Elder Heinrich Unruh, Muntau. To serve as second secretary (Minister Gerhard Harder serves as first) teacher Komelius Abraham Wiens, Neu-Halbstadt, is elected. The secretary G. Harder first reads the minutes of the General Conference of October 14 and 15, 1909, at Schoenfeld, and then the minutes of the meeting of representatives of the joint church councils of the Mennonite congregations of the Ekaterinoslav, Taurida and Kherson provinces of June 17 and 18, 1910, in Schoenwiese. Then the conference proceeded to the discussion of the points on this year’s agenda. 1. First Point for Deliberation: A review