Skip to main content

Molotschna Elder Heinrich Dirks and tensions with Mennonite Brethren

Russian Mennonites were not always kind to each other—and nowhere is this seen better than in the tensions between “old” Mennonites and the “separatist” Mennonite Brethren, who had their beginnings in Gnadenfeld, Molotschna in 1860.

Heinrich Dirks (1842-1915) was the first Russian Mennonite overseas missionary and later long-time Gnadenfeld, Molotschna (note 1). Everything about Dirks’ life suggests that he would have joined the Brethren in 1860. He too was influenced by the "powerful and gripping” conversionist ministry of Eduard Wüst in his youth. Dirks was a young adult in the Gnadenfeld congregation in South Russia where the Mennonite Brethren /separatist movement began. Shortly thereafter, he was trained in the German pietist Barmen Mission School (1863-67), and famously travelled to Sumatra (Indonesia) where he started a mission outpost and school. The Mennonite Brethren too would later connect the global mission imperative with the impending return of Christ as did Dirks. Dirks was a passionate and evangelistic preacher of conversion. He remained a missionary at heart and tireless fundraiser for overseas missions until his death in 1915.

However Heinrich Dirks was genuinely disturbed or even spooked by the “generally unhealthy, sick symptoms” (his terms) that accompanied the early Mennonite Brethren movement which he witnessed first-hand (note 2). According to Dirks,

"… their gatherings degenerated quickly after this, for they would hear nothing about growth in grace and holiness, [or] the struggle against the lusts and desires of the heart … but instead claimed that they had become perfected children of God with their conversion, and could only rejoice and thank God for their blessed condition. They went so far as to arrange competitions in their gatherings to determine who could shout the loudest for joy and jump the highest in delight (Freudensprünge)—on account of which they were given the names “leapers” (Hüpfer) and “cheerful brethren” (lustige Brüder). And more: they fell so deep into their fanatacism, that in three locations—Rudnerweide, Liebenau and Einlage—they collected and burned edifying Christian literature that they had used up until their conversion." (Note 3)

Heinrich Dirks was in this regard a classic Russian Mennonite—it was important to keep a sober and balanced perspective in all things, including faith.

Already by 1866 when the young historian P. M. Friesen joined the secessionist brethren, the new church was institutionalized—“more like the Kleine Gemeinde (more puritanical in attitude, somewhat melancholic, and formalistically-ascetically pious) rather than like the “Hüpfer” [Leapers] … Mennonite to the core, in temperament,” according to Friesen (note 4). But for those very reasons the new church was positioned not to fade after emotions settled, but to have a lasting place within and impact on Russian Mennonite life. In the end the Brethren movement was not simply an extreme Pietistic withdrawal into the inner life of the soul, nor “such a radical break with the social or religious world which had existed before 1860” (note 5).

The Mennonite Brethren were not the only ones to receive sharp rebukes from Dirks. From Sumatra (Indonesia) where he was converting, baptizing and teaching in the 1870s, Dirks wrote a strongly worded letter counselling his fellow Russian Mennonites against a mass migration to the United States and Canada (this was over alternative service): Mennonites who wish to be separate from the world will soon discover that even in the most distant places—and he should know—the fallen world will one day find them out (note 6)! Also from Sumatra Dirks wrote in 1878:

“Our friends in Europe should not think that a missionary in a heathen country can establish a congregation without spot or wrinkle right away; influenced by the Gospel, only during the next generations will the Spirit and meaning of Christ become apparent in a purer form.” We are not yet at that point; therefore, “the merit and blood of Christ will have to cover up much in this respect. Anyway, where in the world does one find an absolutely pure congregation?” (Note 7)

Much later in 1910 when the state was imposing significant restrictions upon Mennonites and other Protestants, Elder Dirks was convinced that the “zealous but ignorant” proselytization by the Mennonite Brethren “where the Lord had not yet opened the door” (namely to nominally Orthodox Russians) was the cause of government harassment (note 8). Mission yes, but only where God opens a door.

In the 1890s, some thirty years after their beginnings, the Mennonite Brethren were experiencing strong growth in colonies. Heinrich Dirks’ 1892 book on Jesus’ parables of the Sower (Matthew 13) and of the Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-29) was written to give an account of the nature of the church and ultimately to address the “spiritual muddled-ness” of his context. Wholly representative of the bitter feelings Dirks used the book to deliver a stinging judgement of the Mennonite Brethren movement and the type of “morbid epidemic” they represent in the colonies!

"Whoever is not satisfied with the mixed- and external form of the Christian Church, whoever wants to have a church made up only of true believers and of those born again, a congregation in which everything is the best and most perfect, and therefore separates---he thereby gives evidence that he is animated by an over-the-top, pathological zeal, and that he rejects what the Lord Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven. Separation is not permitted where the Christian church still has the shape and structure provided for in the parables of the Lord, as is still the case, for example, with that part of the Christian church that is made up of our Mennonite congregations. This separation melee among our people, this obsession to separate yourself from the congregation which you first joined, this Christian sentimentalism, this silly playing with baptism and its external form, this propaganda-making for a certain type of congregation, this one-size-fits-all view of conversion, this judging-the-speck-in-your-brother's-eye, and so on: it is something very unhealthy and pathological and is the result of an incorrect understanding of what the Lord Jesus wanted to tell us in the parables. And in the long run, every congregation that has been so created--illegitimately through separation will not--at least in the long run--remain a completely pure community. It will also take on a mixed form and thus suffer shipwreck with its overly high expectations. Oh, that the right understanding of what the Lord Jesus wants to tell us in these parables, and the true knowledge of the Kingdom of God among our people would spread more! Because only then could the morbid desire for separation, which is spreading like an epidemic, be brought to a standstill." (Note 9)

Of course there is another side to this story as well (note 10). But this is enough to help us understand a key debate with which these Anabaptist-Mennonites were obsessed with for decades.

            ---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Note 1: Heinrich Dirks, Das Reich Gottes im Lichte der Gleichnisse in Ev. Matth. Kap. 13. und Ev. Marci Kap. 4, V. 26–29 (Gnadenfeld bei Halbstadt: P. Janzen, 1892), 102, https://books.google.ca/books?id=v3UTAAAAYAAJ&dq. On Dirks, cf. the newer biography by Hermann Heidebrecht, Unmögliches wagen! Heinrich Dirks, 1842–1915 (Bielefeld: Christlicher Missions-Verlag, 2019).

Note 2: Heinrich Dirks, “Ein Abschnitt aus der Gnadenfelder Gemeindechronik mit Nekrologie des ‘alten Cornies,’” Mennonitisches Jahrbuch 1907 5 (1908), 52–65; 52, https://chortitza.org/kb/mj1907.pdf. On the Wüst movement after he death, cf. Jakob Prinz, Die Kolonien der Brüdergemeinde. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der deutschen Kolonien Südrußlands (Pjatigorsk, 1898) 84f., 90. http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id369529960. Cf. also Jacob P. Bekker, Origin of the Mennonite Brethren Church (Hillsboro, KS: Mennonite Brethren Historical Society of the Midwest, 1973), 29f., https://archive.org/details/origin-of-the-mennonite-brethren-church-ocr.

Note 3: Heinrich Dirks, “Abschnitt aus der Gnadenfelder Gemeindechronik,” 53; also E. H. Busch, ed. Ergänzungen der Materialien zur Geschichte und Statistik des Kirchen- und Schulwesens der Ev.-Luth. Gemeinden in Russland, vol. 1 (St. Petersburg: Gustav Haessel, 1867), 258, https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_V9IMAQAAMAAJ. Books burned included Johann Starck’s Tägliches Handbuch, Halle Pietist Johann Arndt’s Wahres Christentum, and Ludwig Hofacker’s Predigten für alle Sonn-, Fest- u. Feier-Tage—and other Christian books other than the Bible with pictures. Cf. Heinrich Epp, Notizen aus dem Leben und Wirken des verstorbenen Ältesten Abraham Unger, dem Gründer der “Einlager-Mennoniten-Brüdergemeinde (Halbstadt, South Russia: Self-published, 1907), 4, https://chortitza.org/Buch/MJ/AU-01.htm. ET: “Historical Notes” (part 1), Direction (Fall 1990) 127–139; https://directionjournal.org/19/2/historical-endnotes.html. Dirks’ account is consistent with Elder A. Lenzmann’s 1862/1863 telling of these events: August Lenzmann, “An den Herausgeber: Die Separatistischen Bewegungen an der Molotschna betreffend,” March 16, 1863 [July 21, 1862], Mennonitische Blätter 10, no. 3 (May 1863), 31–35. https://mla.bethelks.edu/gmsources/newspapers/Mennonitische%20Blaetter/1854-1900/1863/DSCF0293.JPG.

Note 4:´Peter M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia 1789–1910 (Winnipeg, MB: Christian, 1978), 438, https://archive.org/details/TheMennoniteBrotherhoodInRussia17891910/.

Note 5: James Urry, “The Social Background to the Emergence of the Mennonite Brethren Church in Nineteenth Century Russia.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 6 (1988), 32, https://jms.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/jms/article/view/292.

Note 6: Cf. George K. Epp, Geschichte der Mennoniten in Rußland, vol. II (Lage: Logos, 1997), 232.

Note 7: In Alle Hoekema, ed., Dutch Mennonite Mission in Indonesia: Historical Essays (Elkhart, IN: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2001), 88, https://archive.org/details/dutchmennonitemi22alle/.

Note 8: Cf. H. Dirks, “Fortsetzung der Geschichte des Mennonitenvölkleins in Rußland im Jahre 1910,” Mennonitisches Jahrbuch 1910 8 (1911), 7–17; 9, https://chortitza.org/kb/mj1910.pdf. The phrase “open doors” is language used by the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 16:18), but may also be a play on the name of a new missions periodical Offene Türen (1909–1913) from Barmen.

Note 9: Dirks, Das Reich Gottes im Lichte der Gleichnisse, 101f.

Note 10: See previous post (forthcoming).





Print Friendly and PDF



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sesquicentennial: Proclamation of Universal Military Service Manifesto, January 1, 1874

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago Tsar Alexander II proclaimed a new universal military service requirement into law, which—despite the promises of his predecesors—included Russia’s Mennonites. This act fundamentally changed the course of the Russian Mennonite story, and resulted in the emigration of some 17,000 Mennonites. The Russian government’s intentions in this regard were first reported in newspapers in November 1870 ( note 1 ) and later confirmed by Senator Evgenii von Hahn, former President of the Guardianship Committee ( note 2 ). Some Russian Mennonite leaders were soon corresponding with American counterparts on the possibility of mass migration ( note 3 ). Despite painful internal differences in the Mennonite community, between 1871 and Fall 1873 they put up a united front with five joint delegations to St. Petersburg and Yalta to petition for a Mennonite exemption. While the delegations were well received and some options could be discussed with ministers of the Crown, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flooding as a weapon of war, 1657

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these maps speak volumes. In February 1657, the Swedish King Carolus Gustavus ordered an intentional breach of the embankments along the Vistula River to completely flood the villages of the Danzig Werder. See the vivid punctures and water flow in 1657 map below; compare with the 1730 maps with rebuilt villages and farms ( note 1 ). In Polish memory this war is appropriately remembered as "The Deluge". Villages in the Danzig Werder (delta) from which Mennonites immigrated to Russia include: Quadendorf, Reichenberg, Krampitz, Neunhuben, Hochzeit, Scharfenberg, Wotzlaff, Landau, Schönau, Nassenhuben, Mönchengrebin, and Nobel ( note 2 ). In the war the suburbs outside the gates of Danzig suffered most; Mennonites lived here in large numbers, e.g., in Alt Schottland and Stoltzenberg. First, these villages were completely razed by the City of Danzig to keep the invading Swedes from using the villages to their advantage in battle. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Formidable Fräulein Marga Bräul (1919–2011)

Fräulein Bräul left an indelible mark on two generations of high school students in the Mennonite Colony of Fernheim, Paraguay. Former students and acquaintances recall that Marga Bräul demanded the highest effort and achievements of her students, colleagues and of herself—the kind of teacher you either love or hate but will never forget! In March 1947, Marga was offered a position at the Fernheim Secondary School ( Zentralschule ). A recent refugee to Paraguay from war-torn Europe, she taught mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In 1952, she was the only female faculty member ( note 1 ). Marga wedded a strong commitment to academics with a passion for quality arts and crafts. She provided extensive extra-curricular instruction to students in handiwork and was especially renowned for her artwork—which included painting and woodworking— end of year art exhibits with students, theatre sets, and festival decorations. Marga’s pedagogical philosophy was holistic; she told Mennonite ed...
Post a Comment
Read more

“The way is finally open”—Russian Mennonite Immigration, 1922-23

In a highly secretive meeting in Ohrloff, Molotschna on February 7, 1922, leaders took a decision to work to remove the entire Mennonite population of some 100,000 people out of the USSR—if at all possible ( note 1 ). B.B. Janz (Ohrloff) and Bishop David Toews (Rosthern, SK) are remembered as the immigration leaders who made it possible to bring some 20,000 Mennonites from the Soviet Union to Canada in the 1920s ( note 2 ). But behind those final numbers were multiple problems. In August 1922, an appeal was made by leaders to churches in Canada and the USA: “The way is finally open, for at least 3,000 persons who have received permission to leave Russia … Two ships of the Canadian Pacific Railway are ready to sail from England to Odessa as soon as the cholera quarantine is lifted. These Russian [Mennonite] refugees are practically without clothing … .” ( Note 3 ) Notably at this point B. B. Janz was also writing Toews, saying that he was utterly exhausted and was preparing to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mennonite “Displaced Persons” and MCC’s “Jewish Argument”

At the conclusion of the war Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) was fully aware that “their” 13,000-plus Russian Mennonite refugees in Germany did not qualify as displaced persons and for support from the International Refugee Organization. They were refused IRO “care and maintenance” as Soviet citizens, i.e., they were free to return home. MCC sought to convince the IRO that the Mennonite refugees were not “Soviet Germans” and--if they had became German citizens in Warthegau (also a disqualifier), it was done under duress ( note 1 ). Astonishingly MCC’s Europe Director Peter J. Dyck—later seen as the Moses of the Mennonites—proposed to top military personnel at US military headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany (USFET) in July 1946, that Mennonites be granted the same status as Jews as a persecuted people. “By a recent decree all Jews, regardless of their nationality, are automatically given the status of 'D.P.' [displaced person] on the grounds that they are victims of persecu...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is the Church to Say? Letter 4 (of 4) to American Mennonite Friends

Irony is used in this post to provoke and invite critical thought; the historical research on the Mennonite experience is accurate and carefully considered. ~ANF Preparing for your next AGM: Mennonite Congregations and Deportations Many U.S. Mennonite pastors voted for Donald Trump, whose signature promise was an immediate start to “the largest deportation operation in American history.” Confirmed this week, President Trump will declare a national emergency and deploy military assets to carry this out. The timing is ideal; in January many Mennonite congregations have their Annual General Meeting (AGM) with opportunity to review and update the bylaws of their constitution. Need help? We have related examples from our tradition, which I offer as a template, together with a few red flags. First, your congregational by-laws.  It is unlikely you have undocumented immigrants in your congregation, but you should flag this. Model: Gustav Reimer, a deacon and notary public from the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

1929 Flight of Mennonites to Moscow and Reception in Germany

At the core of the attached video are some thirty photos of Mennonite refugees arriving from Moscow in 1929 which are new archival finds. While some 13,000 had gathered in outskirts of Moscow, with many more attempting the same journey, the Soviet Union only released 3,885 Mennonite "German farmers," together with 1,260 Lutherans, 468 Catholics, 51 Baptists, and 7 Adventists. Some of new photographs are from the first group of 323 refugees who left Moscow on October 29, arriving in Kiel on November 3, 1929. A second group of photos are from the so-called “Swinemünde group,” which left Moscow only a day later. This group however could not be accommodated in the first transport and departed from a different station on October 31. They were however held up in Leningrad for one month as intense diplomatic negotiations between the Soviet Union, Germany and also Canada took place. This second group arrived at the Prussian sea port of Swinemünde on December 2. In the next ten ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Immigration to Canada, 1923: Background

In April 1921 Mennonites in the Caucasus and Don Region officially petitioned Moscow for permissions to emigrate—which Lenin had “flatly refused.” Their rationale was more than economic. “The disruption of economic conditions leads to impoverishment, which again goes hand in hand with the degradation of morals and has an alarming impact on our youth, who are also constantly exposed to the pressure of brutal and ruthless agitation on the part of those in power. … This decay of our spiritual and economic goods will only become greater and more ruinous.” ( Note 1 ) Later that year and some months before the large-scale feeding operations could begin in the Soviet Union, American Mennonite Relief (AMR) commissioner A.J. Miller petitioned the Soviet Embassy in London for exit permissions for 20,000 Mennonites ( note 1b) . He was unsuccessful. Nonetheless in a highly secretive meeting in Ohrloff, Molotschna on February 7, 1922, key Mennonite leaders took a decision to work toward the re...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Beginnings: Some Basics

The sixteenth-century ancestors of Russian Mennonites were largely Anabaptists from the Low Countries. Because their new vision of church called for voluntary membership marked by adult baptism upon confession of faith, they became one of the most persecuted groups of the Protestant Reformation ( note 1 ). For a millennium re-baptism ( a na -baptism) had been considered a heresy punishable by death ( note 2 ), and again in 1529 the Imperial Diet of Speyer called for the “brutal” punishment for those who did not recognize infant baptism. Many of the earliest Anabaptist cells were found in Belgium and The Netherlands--part of the larger Habsburg Empire ruled after 1555 by “the Most Catholic of Kings,” Philip II of Spain. The North Sea port cities of the Low Countries had some limited freedoms and were places for both commercial and cultural exchange; ships arrived daily not only from other Hanseatic League like Danzig, but also from Florence, Venice and Genoa, the Americas and the Far Ea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fraktur (or Gothic) font and Kurrent- (or Sütterlin) handwriting: Nazi ban, 1941

In the middle of the war on January 1, 1942, the Winnipeg-based Mennonitische Rundschau published a new issue without the familiar Fraktur script masthead ( note 1 ). One might speculate on the reasons, but a year earlier Hitler banned the use of the font in the Reich . The Rundschau did not exactly follow all orders from Berlin—the rest of the paper was in Fraktur (sometimes referred to as "Gothic"); when the war ended in 1945, the Rundschau reintroduced the Fraktur font for its masthead. It wasn’t until the 1960s that an issue might have a page or title here or there with the “normal” or Latin font, even though post-war Germany was no longer using Fraktur . By 1973 only the Rundschau masthead is left in Fraktur , and that is only removed in December 1992. Attached is a copy of Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann's official letter dated January 3, 1941, which prohibited the use of Fraktur fonts "by order of the Führer. " Why? It was a Jewish invention, apparent...
1 comment
Read more