Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

ly on differences between the “chiliastic” and “common” Pietism in its Wiirttemberg form. The latter strongly emphasised conversion. It has also been claimed that all of the stimuli leading to the pietistic revival in South Russia came from “common” Pietism, including the preaching of pastor Eduard Wiist in 1845-59, the work of Johann (1824-39) and Karl Bonekemper (1867-77), and the writings of Ludwig Hofacker.'? However, the reality was more complicated. Recent research has brought to light that several Mennonite communities in Russia were under strong Herrnhut influence,’* though it did not lead to the formation of a new church pattern.'° Even in the small space of Mennonite colonies, Pietism had many faces. Stundism arose among the Russian and Ukrainian population through meetings which took place apart from the liturgical services of the Orthodox Church, in the same manner in which German Pietists living nearby practiced their piety. The term Stundism originates from the German word Stunde, meaning “hour”. Though Russian Stundist meetings had taken place since 1861-62,"° the local government drew attention to the secret nightly religious meetings in the Odessa area only in March 1866,'” considering them a threat to the public order. The governor of Kherson did not regard the phenomenon as worth reporting to the Minister of Internal Affairs until 2 June 1869.'* Nine days later, the Mennonite Brethren elder Abram Unger baptised Efim Tsimbal upon profession of his faith.'? This '2 Istoriia evangel’skikh khristian-baptistov v SSSR, pp. 39-42. Such classification is not used in Germany, the homeland of Pietism. ' Istoriia evangel’skikh khristian-baptistov v SSSR, pp. 39-41. '* John Friesen, “Mennonite Churches and Religious Developments in Russia 1789-1850", in John Friesen (ed), Mennonites in Russia, 1788-1988: Essays in Honour of Gerhard Lohrenz (Winnipeg: CMBC Publications, 1989), pp. 43-72, 64-66. 'S P.M. Friesen, Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Briiderschaft in Rufland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der Mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte (Halbstadt: Raduga, 1911), pp. 79-80. '6 Reshetnikov and Sannikov, Obzor istorii, p. 76. '7“Donesenie mirovogo posrednika 2 uchastka Khersonskago uezda Khersonskomu guber- natoru ot 14 marta 1866 g. No. 88’, in Aleksii, Materialy dlia istorii, p. 47. '§ “Vypiska iz predstavleniia Gubernatora ot 2 iiunia 1869 g’, in S.I. Golovashchenko and Iu. Ie. Reshetnikov (compilers), Istoriia evangel’sko-baptistskogo dvizheniia v Ukraine: Mate- rialy i dokumenty [History of the Evangelical-Baptist Movement in Ukraine: Materials and Documents] (Odessa: Bogomyslie, 1998), p. 13. '?“Donesenie Ispravnika Elizavetgradskago uezda Khersonskomu Gubernatoru ot 16 iiunia 1869 g. No. 30”, in Aleksii, Materialy dlia istorii, pp. 71-72. 37 day marked the beginning of a strong Baptist movement in South Russia. The short period of Stundism among Russians and Ukrainians had come to a conclus