Mennonite Brethren Congregations

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The Mennonite Brethren (English Mennonite Brethren ) are congregations and associations of congregations within the Mennonite denominational family that are influenced by Pietism and Baptism .

history

The first Mennonite Brethren Congregations arose in 1860 as a reform movement among the Russian-German Mennonites settling in the Ukraine and Russia . The Pietist Eduard Wüst from Württemberg played a major role in this . The Moravians and the Baptists also influenced the theological development of the Mennonite Brethren.

Criticism of the rigid, formalized community life of the Russian-German Mennonites was decisive for the emergence of the Mennonite Brethren. This happened not least before the impression of the sermons of Eduard Wüst, who traveled as a preacher to the German colonies in Ukraine in the mid-19th century. As early as December 1859, a group of Mennonites came together to celebrate the Lord's Supper without the presence of a church council. As a result, in January 1860 in Elisabethtal in the Molotschna colony, eighteen Mennonites declared their withdrawal from the community and founded an independent community. Later also in other places like z. B. in the southern Russian Kotschubejewskoje municipalities. In their criticism of the formalized community life, the early Mennonite Brethren congregations resembled the community movement of the Small Congregation founded by Klaas Reimer in 1812 .

Of great importance in this phase were the connections to the German Baptists, including Johann Gerhard Oncken , with whom they conducted an intensive correspondence and who also visited them on his extensive trip to southern Russia in 1879. One of the “most fruitful contacts”, however, were the visits of the Baptist pioneer August Liebig to Einlage (Kitschkas, Colony Chortitza ): “One can say that after his visit a new period of development began in the history of the Einlager Brethren, which then had an impact on the entire Mennonite Brethren congregation had [...]. ”From the Baptists they adopted a number of congregation ordinances and immersion baptism (baptism through immersion). Like Pietists and Baptists, they also spoke to one another with brother and sister. Later it was the Hamburg seminary which played an essential role in the training of teachers, preachers and missionaries of the Mennonite Brethren. By 1914, more than 20 students from the group of MBG had completed the Baptist training center. However, decisive impulses also came from the pietistic training center Chrischona and the writings of Ludwig Hofacker .

The Mennonite Brothers understood the break with the other Mennonite communities themselves as a return to the principles of the Reformation Anabaptists . In their sermons, repentance and conversion of the individual played an essential role. Church discipline was accordingly emphasized more strongly. The heads of the other Mennonite congregations initially reacted to the new congregation movement with exclusions. However, in 1864 the Mennonite Brethren were finally formally recognized by the Russian government as a second Mennonite congregation movement. In May 1872 a national federal conference took place for the first time, and it met annually from then until the First World War. The first creed of the Mennonite Brethren was adopted in 1873, but was only available in print in 1876. After the Mennonite emigration to North America , larger communities and community associations also emerged there.

The emergence of the Mennonite Brethren is embedded in a context of major social changes in the mid-19th century, such as the abolition of serfdom by Tsar Alexander II in 1861.

Dissemination and organization

Mennonite Brethren Congregations can now be found in around 20 countries. Worldwide, the total number of its members is estimated at around 300,000. Many of them are part of the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB), which was established in 1990 on the sidelines of the Mennonite World Conference in Winnipeg , Canada .

In Germany, the congregations have joined forces in the Working Group of Mennonite Brethren in Germany (AMBD) and in the Association of Mennonite Brethren in Bavaria (VMBB) . Congregations with a Russian-German character can be found in the Bund Taufgesinnter Gemeinde (BTG) . In Austria, the Mennonite Free Church of Austria (MFÖ) is part of the Mennonite Brethren. The AMBD, the BTG and the MFÖ are accordingly members of the ICOMB at the international level. About a third of the congregations of the Brotherhood of Christian Congregations in Germany (BCD) see themselves as Mennonite Brethren Congregations. There are also autonomous communities outside of churches / community associations.

Principles

Mennonite Brethren Congregations share with other Mennonites belief principles such as the baptism of believers , the rejection of the oath , non-violence , the autonomy of the congregation (= local congregation understanding) and the priesthood of all believers . The Bible and especially the Sermon on the Mount are decisive for the faith of the individual . Like other Pietists, however, Mennonite Brethren emphasize the individual or subjective approach to faith and the role of laypeople . Private devotions or house groups play a major role . As a form of baptism, Mennonite Brethren almost exclusively practice baptism through immersion.

Relationship to ecclesiastical Mennonites

As part of the anniversary celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Mennonite Brothers Congregations on May 26, 2010, some Mennonite Brethren congregations united in associations issued a "statement on reconciliation" towards the church Mennonites . It asks for forgiveness for “spiritual arrogance” and regrets “pride and lack of love”, “which was expressed in the unfraternal rejection of siblings, in hurtful denial of fellowship and in a contemptuous attitude towards other Mennonite communities”. Together they want to be “open to clarifying discussions and possible cooperation”. The statement was read out on behalf of the AMBD, the BTG and the VMBB.

literature

  • Diether Götz Lichdi: The Mennonites in the past and present. From the Anabaptist Movement to the Worldwide Free Church , Großburgwedel 2004 (2nd edition), ISBN 3-88744-402-7 , p. 147ff
  • Franz Rathmair: History of the Mennonites in Austria from 1947 to 1987 , in: Yearbook for the history of Protestantism in Austria 119 (2003) 244–282.
  • Peter M. Friesen: The Old Evangelical Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (1789-1910) in the context of the overall Mennonite history. Halbstadt: Publishing company "Raduga", 1911.
  • Otto Wiebe: Mennonite Brethren Congregation. A contribution to the history and self-image of a community. Frankenthal: Shepherd's Voice 2002.
  • Gerhard Wölk: History of the Mennonite Brethren Congregations in Germany. Frankenthal: Shepherd's Voice 2010.
  • Abram H. Unruh: The History of the Mennonite Brethren Congregation in Russia 1860-1945. 2nd edition Steinhagen: Samenkorn 2010. ISBN 978-3-86203-004-0
  • John N. Klassen: Live and proclaim Jesus Christ. 150 years of the Mennonite Brethren , location: Lichtzeichen 2010. ISBN 978-3-86954-014-6

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quoted from Heinrich Löwen: Forgotten relationships. Early Encounters of the Mennonite Brethren Congregation with Baptism in Russia - An Overview . Logos Verlag: Bielefeld 1989. P. 20
  2. ↑ An early creed of the Mennonite Brethren Congregations from 1873 was largely identical to that of the Hamburg Baptists. The typical Mennonite rejection of violence was an exception. However, the proximity to the Baptists also led to conflicts. For example, the Brethren in Molochna never accepted the 1873 confession. Cf. John N Klassen: Live and proclaim Jesus Christ , Situation 2010, page 42
  3. ↑ Heinrich Löwen: Forgotten relationships. Early Encounters of the Mennonite Brethren Congregation with Baptism in Russia - An Overview . Logos Verlag: Bielefeld 1989. S. 25f
  4. ↑ John N. Klassen: Live and proclaim Jesus Christ . Lichtzeichen, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86954-014-6 , p. 36 .
  5. ↑ John N. Klassen: Living and proclaiming Jesus Christ - 150 Years of Mennonite Brethren Congregations . Lichtzeichen Verlag, Bielefeld 2010, p. 142 .
  6. ↑ Those established congregations that did not join the reform movement of the Mennonite Brethren congregations after 1860 were initially described as ecclesiastical Mennonites . The expression referred to the fact that the established congregations mostly met in church buildings, while the newly formed Mennonite Brethren congregations mostly met in private houses or later in meeting houses, see: Cornelius Krahn and Walter W. Sawatsky: Kirchliche Mennoniten . In: Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  7. ↑ Mennonite Brethren ask Mennonites for forgiveness. Mennonews.de, accessed July 8, 2010 .

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