History of the Anabaptist-Mennonites
In order to acquaint the reader with the rise and development of the Anabaptist movement, we must begin with the history of the Protestant Reformation that started in the 16th century. Below is a brief historical overview based on the book by American church historian John A. Toews (1912–1979), History of the Mennonite Brethren Church: Pilgrims and Pioneers (1975).
The Anabaptist movement was a continuation of the Protestant Reformation, initiated in 1517 by Martin Luther. Groups of Anabaptists, or “rebaptizers,” emerged in European countries such as Switzerland, Moravia, Southern Germany, and Holland. The Anabaptists, whom historians often classify as radical reformers, agreed with the reformers (mainly Luther and Zwingli) on the basic Christian doctrines of salvation and justification by faith through grace. However, the Anabaptists insisted on more radical changes in doctrine and church practice. The most contentious issues between Anabaptists and reformers were: free church or state church? Believer’s baptism or infant baptism? Religious toleration or persecution of heretics?
Leaders of the Anabaptist movement found supporters and formed their own congregations in several European countries. These congregations faced persecution from both Catholics and Protestants (Lutheran and Reformed churches). Below is the story of one such group, whose members came to be called Mennonites.
Menno Simons and the Mennonites
The history of the Mennonite church is closely tied to the name of its founder and spiritual leader, the Dutchman Menno Simons (1496–1561). Menno Simons was a Catholic priest in Holland. Influenced by the ideas of the Reformation, he began to doubt the truth of certain Catholic doctrines. Menno could find no support for these doctrines (the doctrine of transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ during the Mass, and the doctrine of infant baptism) in the New Testament. He became convinced that the Roman Catholic Church was in error regarding these teachings. In 1536, Menno Simons ended his ministry in the Catholic Church and became the leader and pastor of one of the persecuted groups of peaceful Anabaptists in Holland.
Menno disagreed not only with the Catholic Church but also with those Anabaptists who resorted to weapons and violence. This revolutionary group, or, as they called themselves, “prophets of the Spirit,” seized Münster, a city in northwestern Germany, and established the “Münster Kingdom” in 1535. Members of this group forcibly baptized the city’s inhabitants, practiced polygamy, and killed those who did not obey their commands. That same year the movement was suppressed by military force. Menno Simons condemned the violence in Münster. He and his followers insisted on the renunciation of war and violence. Menno devoted the following twenty-five years of his life to serving the community of peaceful Anabaptists, who came to be called Mennonites in the 1540s. Toews summarized M. Simons’s ministry in his book: “Menno preached the gospel, taught the converts, organized the congregation, defended their faith from external and internal attacks, and guided the whole brotherhood toward a deeper understanding of grace and true Christian teaching” (1975, p. 10).
After M. Simons’s death in 1561, the Mennonites continued to grow in number, forming new congregations in Holland, northern Germany, and Poland. Among Mennonite doctrines, a central place was given to the doctrine of the true church, which taught salvation by grace, believer’s baptism, voluntary church membership, life in the Holy Spirit, and discipleship. In their life and discipleship, the Mennonites gave the primary place to “the ethic of love and nonresistance in all human relationships” (Toews 1975, p. 12).
Resettlement and Growth of the Mennonites
Intense persecution of Mennonites by the government of Holland forced them to become refugees and resettle in Germany and Prussia. In the 1780s, the Prussian emperor forbade Mennonites from purchasing land in Prussia in response to their practice of nonresistance and their refusal to pay taxes that supported the state church and the army.
During this same historical period, the Russian empress Catherine II issued the Manifesto of 1763, which allowed immigrants from Europe to purchase land in Ukraine and Russia and guaranteed foreigners full religious freedom and exemption from military service. As a result of this liberal colonial policy, many Mennonites from Prussia migrated to Ukraine and Russia at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Two Mennonite colonies — Chortitza and Molotschna — were established in 1789 and 1804, respectively. By the 1830s these colonies numbered 58 Mennonite villages, which were independent of the local population because they had their own administration, educational system, and religion. Some historians note that over time religious life in these colonies gradually declined and was characterized by a low level of morality and spirituality. For example, in some Mennonite churches believer’s baptism turned into adult baptism, which did not take into account personal commitment to Jesus Christ as a condition for baptism. The partial fading of spiritual life was caused by the religious and cultural isolation of the Mennonite colonies from the surrounding world and a lack of spiritual leadership.
Birth of the Mennonite Brethren Church
In the 1860s, the religious life of the Mennonite colonies revived under the influence of German Pietists (German Pietism — a religious movement of the 17th–18th centuries, led by Philipp Spener (1663–1727) in Germany, which preached inner devotion and moral purity (Mark Noll, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2001)), Baptist preachers, and traveling evangelists who delivered fiery sermons to the believers of the colonies about free grace, discipleship, and missionary work. This contributed to a series of religious awakenings in various old Mennonite churches in Molotschna and Khortytsia and led to the organization of the Mennonite Brethren Church in 1860. Despite persecution (arrests and administrative bans) that followed from the old Mennonite churches and the local colonial administration, the Mennonite Brethren Church continued to develop and was eventually recognized by the tsarist government in 1866, receiving full religious and civil privileges.
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The Mennonite Brethren Church in Ukraine and Southern Russia from the 1860s to 1914
From the 1860s to 1914, the socio-economic and religious life of the Mennonite colonies, and especially of the Mennonite Brethren Church, experienced a period of flourishing and rapid development. The church grew significantly, planting congregations in such regions of Russia as the Caucasus, the middle Volga, and Siberia, where new Mennonite settlements were established. From its very beginning, the Mennonite Brethren Church emphasized evangelism and missionary service.
Although the tsarist government strictly prohibited evangelism among the Russian and Ukrainian population, the Mennonite Brethren, in fellowship with German Baptists, began to witness to the local people. As a result, in 1869 Abram Unger, an elder of the Mennonite Brethren, baptized the Ukrainian Efim Tsimbala, who “without invitation [of his own free will] joined the group of those being baptized [Mennonites]” (Vordin 1993, p. 106)2. However, as P. Toews notes: “The missionary work of the Mennonite Brethren did not lead to the formation of Mennonite Brethren churches among the Russians” (p. 98 Mennonites and Baptists / compiled by Paul Toews, published in Canada, 1993.). The Mennonite Brethren advised new converts among Russians and Ukrainians to join the Baptist church. One reason for this advice was that Mennonites and Russian believers had significant cultural and ethnic differences (for example, Mennonites conducted their services in German or a dialect). Another reason why Russians were advised to become members of the Baptist church was that the Mennonite Brethren tried to respect the tsarist decree prohibiting preaching among Russian people and their conversion to their faith. The Mennonite Brethren understood that the tsarist government could punish them for missionary work by revoking the privilege exempting them from military service. After the 1905 manifesto, which brought religious freedom for Russian and Ukrainian Evangelical Christians and Baptists, the Mennonite Brethren expanded their missionary service among the Russian population. They gave support to several Russian brothers and distributed Bibles and religious tracts among Russians and Ukrainians.
The Difficult Post-War Years
After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Mennonites living on the territory of the Russian Empire faced a series of tragic events (war, revolution, terror, famine, emigration, and expulsion from the country) that led to the complete disappearance of all organized religious and economic life in the Ukrainian and Russian Mennonite colonies. Particularly severe sufferings befell the Mennonites after the October Revolution of 1917. In the post-revolutionary years (1918–1921), Mennonites first encountered anarchy — the bands of Makhno, and later they suffered from the terror of the civil war. It is estimated that more than 2,200 Mennonites perished during this period at the hands of Makhno bandits, as well as from epidemics. In addition, in 1920–1921, Mennonites experienced a famine of terrifying proportions, which developed as a result of drought and the plundering of seed grain. Fortunately, many Mennonites, as well as Ukrainians and Russians, were saved from starvation by the efforts of the relief organization Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). This organization was formed in 1920 in America. The committee organized the delivery of food to thousands of starving people in Russia and Ukraine, regardless of their nationality or faith.
Mass Emigration to Canada and North America
All the above-listed events, including the suppression of religious freedom by the communist regime, caused a mass emigration of Mennonites from Russia to Canada (1923–1930). This was the second largest wave of emigration. The first group of Mennonites emigrated to the USA and Canada in the 1870s.
From 1923 to 1930, 20,000 Mennonites left Russia and Ukraine and settled in Canada. In 1930, a small group of refugees (256 people) was able to move to the United States, where they were met by other Mennonite groups that had emigrated earlier (some had migrated from Germany and Switzerland in the 18th century and from Russia in the 19th century).
During the Soviet period, the Mennonite Brethren who remained in Russia joined the Baptist church and were registered together with the Union of Baptists. In the Soviet Union, there were about 22,000 Mennonite Brethren who attended services and worshipped God together with Evangelical Christians and Baptists in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Western Siberia.
This brief historical overview, tracing the development of the Mennonite Brethren Church, shows that its formation is rooted in the 16th century and is connected with the Anabaptist movement, whose complex development took place in Western and Eastern Europe from the 17th to the 19th century. From the very beginning, the group of peaceful Anabaptist-Mennonites differed from other Protestant groups by rejecting the “power of the sword,” refusing violence in self-defense and military service. These ideas later came to be termed “nonresistance.” Despite persecution, suffering, and threats to their physical survival, the Mennonites preserved their faith and understanding of Christianity. Their teaching on religious pluralism and tolerance, rejection of the state church, and establishment of voluntary church membership were later adopted by other Christian teachings.
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