Perilous Journey: The Mennonite Brethren in Russia 1860-1910, John B. Toews, 1988

e sustained amidst such decadence and therefore "we herewith are completely severing ourselves from the corrupt church." Generally the document reaffirmed the traditional Mennonite confession of faith. The dissenters cited their views on baptism, the Lord's Supper, feet washing, the election of ministers and the ban. Baptism must be "ministered upon a true, living faith." Communion fellowship with the carnally-minded was contrary to Scripture. The ordinance was "not an emblem of fellowship of believers with unbelievers." As such they could not associate with "lovers of money, drunkards and blasphemers." Church discipline was essential and all "willful sinners must be excommunicated from the fellowship of believers." The procla- mation's dominant theme focused on the purity of the church. It could not, they insisted, include the entire community and was not necessarily represented by contemporary institutions and leaders. The document made no mention of re-baptism or immersion baptism. When the Ohrloff elder Johann Harder reported on his discussions with the radicals he made reference to a written statement in which they declared that "each would have preferred to remain a member of his own church" but because "ministers do not regulate matters according to the Word of God" could not do so. 3 In a letter to the Ohrloff-Halbstadt church council they explained that they did not view their community "as one having degenerated into a complete devil's service" and had only withdrawn from "the corrupt churches" not the brotherhood. 4 They celebrated the Lord's Supper apart "because we could not in good conscience observe it with unbelievers." 5 Since the Old Church was deeply interwoven with the fabric of society the demand for a new order threatened a delicate, long- standing balance within the Mennonite world. Though the secessionists asserted that their beliefs were "in full accord with our beloved Menno Simons" they failed to realize the tremendous social and political implications of their demands. In a sense they were repeating an old Anabaptist theme. Radical religion spawned a new group desirous of putting its new values into practice. This necessitated the rejection of the old piety and the creation of a new peoplehood. The vigor of the protest ensured confrontation rather than conciliation from the very outset. The old piety felt compelled to 38 protect itself. The majority of elders, secure in their alliance with the Mennonite state, moved against the nonconformists. The struggle for the fledgling movement now centered on the retention of their legal status as Mennonites. The preoccupation with the inner journey which had spawned their initial nonconformity seemed less important. As in Luther's day an ecclesiastical institution embracing all of society and following an ancient and sacrosanct creed soon forced the secessionists to define their protest and articulate their theology. Such