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

oxy and meaningless religious form, the mode of religious expression was now determined by the inner ecstacy associated with spiritual rebirth. It was time to shout for joy. In Chortitza the celebration of salvation emerged gradually. For a time the dissidents attended worship services in the old church and invited their elder to house services for dialogue and discussion. On such occasions they still sang from the old hymnal. There was no dramatic exodus, only a drawn-out process of separation. There is little information on the ongoing celebrations of the Neu- Kronsweide revivalists. Cornelius Hildebrand's account essen- tially reflects the evolving antagonism between old and new as well as the dissident's tendency towards doctrinal heresy. He nevertheless refers to their "rather loudly expressed joy in their newly experienced forgiveness," 16 "their initial exuberant feelings of happiness," 17 and the fact that "they sang and jumped, beat on boxes and chests on which they placed pots and cutlery to increase the noise." 18 Accounts of the exuberance movement in the Molotschna are more numerous and explicit. P.M. Friesen relates how Jacob Reimer, in a letter of 1861, described a lively Sunday at Jakob Reimer's house in Gnadenfeld when "the Brethren leaped and 41 danced." 19 Reimer, in a probable reference to this episode, subsequently informed Johann Claassen in St. Petersburg that he could "no longer tolerate such bedlam in my home as took place last Sunday." 20 A few days later Johann's wife Katherina informed him of a Pentecost service in an abandoned mosque where "several leaped and danced, some played and sang, and then almost all shouted for joy." 21 Somewhat later when the radicals had excommunicated the moderate Brethren, things went from bad to worse. Records cited by Friesen speak of "uninhibited sound and fury" 22 of dancing "until they were soaked with perspiration," 23 of meetings at which "they did not allow any sermons." 24 During the so-called June reforms of 1865 specific reference was made to "wild expressions of joy" which consisted of "dancing" 25 and "frenzy and dancing." 26 In his memoirs Jacob Bekker elaborates on the 1861 Pentecost service held in the empty mosque. The participants became so zealous and enthusiastic that they shouted for joy, jumped and leaped, which in turn elicited approving responses from others shouting "Hallelujah! Victory! Glory! Amen! May the Lord grant it." 27 He further relates how he sought to subdue this ecstacy on three separate occasions during the meeting by reading Psalms. 28 Bekker also provides a unique list of musical instruments used by the early Brethren: organs, flutes, violins, guitars and musical triangles. He also mentions the use of the vigorously beaten drum confiscated by the village mayor only to reappear in a second edition. 29 Heinrich Janzen reports his encounters with the Molotschna extremists in his personal recoll