Church Affairs Commission

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The Commission for Church Affairs (KfK) was an organization of the Russian-German Mennonites (later the Mennonite settlements of South America), which for the first time represented all Mennonite groups in Russia . It was dissolved in 1927 under pressure from the Soviet authorities. In Brazil it existed until 1947, in Paraguay it still exists today.

The KfK in the Russian Empire 1912–1917

When the Russian parliament passed a new religious law in 1910, by which the Mennonites were removed from their previous privileges and treated as a "sect", the General Federal Conference of Mennonite Congregations in Russia put together a faith commission at the meeting in Schoensee ( Molotschna Colony ) should deal with this matter.

At the Nikolaipol Conference in 1912, the name Faith Commission was changed to Commission on Church Affairs . This commission became the executive committee of the federal conference, which was to carry out its decisions, insofar as they did not conflict with the autonomy of the local communities, and to represent the entirety of the Mennonites before the government.

The first committee consisted of Abraham Görtz, the elder of the Ohrloffer Mennonite Congregation (Molotschna Colony) , Heinrich Braun from the Mennonite Brethren Congregation in the Molotschna Colony and David H. Epp from the Chortitza Colony . In 1911 Epp was elected chairman and K. Unruh treasurer. Wilhelm Dyck later took Heinrich Braun's place.

In 1912 the KfK was entrusted with organizing the meetings of the conference and obtaining approval for them from the government. At a meeting of the General Mennonite Congress in Ohrloff in 1917 it was decided that the chairman of the KfK should devote all of his time to the work of the conference and therefore receive a salary from it.

During the revolution and the turmoil that followed, the activities of the KfK initially came to an end.

KfK in the Soviet Union 1922–1927

The first conference after the revolution took place in October 1922 in Khortitsa. A new committee was put together there, consisting of Johann Klassen (elder of the Schönwiese parish), Jakob Rempel (elder of the Grünfeld parish), Heinrich Wiebe from Steinfeld, and Jakob Janzen from Tiege. The function of the committee was the same as it was before the revolution. The committee, which was newly elected in 1925, consisted of Alexander Ediger (elder of the Schönsee parish), Aaron Dyck from Margenau, and Cornelius Martens from Großweide. Later representatives of the settlements in Siberia and the Crimea joined them.

The activities of the KfK came to an end when all organized religious activities became impossible in 1926–1927 due to the political situation in the Soviet Union.

KfK in Brazil until 1947

The Mennonites, who came from the Soviet Union via Germany to Brazil and Paraguay around 1930 and after the Second World War , continued the practice of an all-Mennonite KfK, which took care of common religious matters of the Mennonite settlements. The KfK in Brazil had the same name as its predecessor in Russia and existed until 1947, when it was no longer viable due to the withdrawal of the Mennonite brothers.

The KfK in Paraguay from 1930

In 1930 the leading preachers of the three newly founded Mennonite congregations ( Mennonite Brethren Congregation , General Conference Mennonite Church , Evangelical Mennonite Brothers ) in Chaco, Paraguay, organized the Commission for Church Affairs (KfK). This foundation was made on the urgent advice of the leading Mennonites in Germany and North America, for the purpose of better coping with the difficulties in the reclamation of the Chaco and its influence on the spiritual life of the settlers, the establishment of schools and in general as an advisory body for the colony for cultural and spiritual matters Ask. The function of the KfK was the same as that of its predecessor in Russia.

The organization of the KfK in Paraguay ran with major difficulties. The first commission consisted of six representatives, two from each parish. The second, newly elected commission consisted of 11 members: four from the MBG, four from the GCM and three from the EMB.

The KfK proved to be an important authority in the life of the colony and the individual communities, especially when major difficulties had to be dealt with, both internally in the colonies and externally as a representation of Mennonite interests before the government and other organizations. It was necessary, especially since Mennonites from different parishes built colonies together and were therefore dependent on one another.

The statute of the KfK has the following principles:

  1. Membership: The KfK consists of representatives from all existing communities in the Fernheim colony. Each municipality has the right to send one representative per 100 members to the KfK. The community leaders automatically become representatives in the KfK.
  2. Procedure: The routine work of the KfK is carried out by the Executive Committee, which consists of the leaders of the municipalities mentioned. In particularly urgent cases and at the end of each church year, the entire KfK meets.
  3. Determination of the KfK:
    1. First, the KfK represents the communities to the outside world, i.e. the Paraguayan government and the Mennonite communities and similar communities in other countries.
    2. The KfK is the guardian of the spiritual and cultural values ​​of the Mennonite Brotherhood. This means that it is their responsibility to direct the upbringing of the youth and the instruction of the children and to supervise them on the basis of the Christian Mennonite faith, for which they have the privilege of the Paraguayan government.
    3. The KfK coordinates and mediates between the individual communities: (1) In questions that concern the general public and require clarification, (2) in questions that concern the cultural and spiritual life and the building of the kingdom of God, (3) in questions concerning the customs and manners of the Mennonite brotherhood. These questions can be asked by the individual municipalities or directly by the KfK.

Internal affairs of the individual communities are not dealt with by the KfK insofar as they do not affect the entire Mennonite brotherhood. The KfK works with the communities and is in contact with the colonial administration.

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