Mennonite Brethren Church
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The Mennonite Brethren Church is an
History
The conference was established among
In 1859, Joseph Höttmann, a former associate of Wüst met with a group of Mennonites to discuss problems within the main Mennonite body. Their discussion centered on participating in communion with church members who were living in a way that seemed unholy or were not converted, and baptism of adults by immersion, which was distinct from other Mennonite churches who primarily baptized by pouring.
On January 6, 1860, this growing group of Mennonites influenced by a combination of Prussian Mennonite pietism, contacts with Moravian Brethren and indirectly through the influential preaching of Eduard Wüst, met in the village of Elisabeththal, Molotschna and formed the Mennonite Brethren Church. They felt the Mennonites had grown cold and formal, and were seeking greater emphasis on discipline, prayer and Bible study. The group presented a document to the elders of the Molotschna Mennonite Churches which indicated "that the total Mennonite brotherhood has decayed to the extent that we can no more be part of it" and fear the "approach of an unavoidable judgment of God."[2] The immediate catalyst for the new organization was the discipline placed on a body of brethren who met to observe communion in a private home without the elders' sanction. The Mennonite Brethren were also in contact with and influenced by German Baptists J. G. Oncken and August Liebig.
The Mennonite Brethren movement spread throughout the Mennonite colonies and produced many distinguished leaders, particularly in Molotschna. These include P. M. Friesen (educator and historian), Jakob and Abraham Kroeker (writers), Heinrich Braun (publisher), Peter Braun (educator) and A. H. Unruh (educator).[3] Jakob Kroeker (1872–1948) was one of the most prolific Mennonite writers, completing a fourteen volume Old Testament commentary.[4] By breaking religious and cultural patterns that had become a hindrance to Mennonite society, the contribution of the Mennonite Brethren allowed all Mennonite groups in Russia to pursue a more wholesome Christian life.[5]
The Mennonite Brethren movement also spread through missionary endeavor. They commissioned the first missionaries to travel from Southern Russia (Ukraine) to India in 1887, establishing congregations in the Hyderabad, Telangana State, region. In the ensuing years, Mennonite Brethren churches have been established in SE Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
Because of growing pressure by the Czarist government and later because of the political turmoil of the
See also
- Bethany College (Saskatchewan)
- Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
- Canadian Mennonite University
- Columbia Bible College (Abbotsford, British Columbia)
- Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India
- École de Théologie Évangélique de Montréal
- Fresno Pacific University
- Fresno Pacific University Biblical Seminary
- Immanuel Schools
- International Committee of Mennonite Brethren(ICOMB)
- Japan Mennonite Brethren Conference
- Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute
- Tabor College, Kansas
- US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
Notes
- ISBN 9781421408804.
- ^ Smith, p. 280.
- ^ Smith, p. 281.
- ^ "Centre for MB Studies, archival holdings". Mbconf.ca. 2000-01-20. Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
- ^ Smith, pp. 281–282.
References
- Toews, John A. (1975). A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church: Pilgrims and Pioneers. Fresno, California: Board of Christian Literature, General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.
- Smith, C. Henry (1981). Smith's Story of the Mennonites. Revised and expanded by Cornelius Krahn. Newton, Kansas: Faith and Life Press. pp. 277–282. ISBN 0-87303-069-9.
External links
- Mennonite Brethren Churches in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online