Sermon Tone Analysis

Mennonites: Europe and Russian Migration

Good morning!

Welcome back and I hope you had a good week.

Last week we talked about the origins of the Hutterites and of the Amish in Europe.

To quickly recap on the Hutterites, they originated in Austria and Moravia, as the Anabaptist continued to spread from Switzerland and south Germany.

From Moravia many migrated to Russia and later to North America.

The Amish are direct descendants from the Swiss Mennonites of the 1600’s.

They believed in a more strict adherence to the old confessions and traditional views of Biblical interpretation, and split off of the rest of the Anabaptists around them.

In the early 1700’s the move to North America began.

From what I found there are no longer any Amish in Europe.

Either they migrated to North America or they united with other Mennonite congregations in Europe.

Today we want to take a look at Mennonites starting around 1650 and then following the movement into Russian, or more specifically, Ukraine.

We will take a brief look at Mennonites in other areas of Europe as well, but our focus will be on the Russian migration, since the majority of the Mennonites in this area trace lineage from there.

The Netherlands 1650 ff

We already talked about Mennonites in South Germany and Switzerland last week, that was covered in the Amish section.

To look at Mennonites in northern Europe we again turn to the Netherlands.

Two weeks ago we left off here talking about the spiritual decline that took place during their physical success and growing wealth.

How is physical wealth bad for spiritual health?

How is it good?

From that time there were several leaders who worked hard to bring about spiritual vitality to the Mennonite churches.

Under the leadership of Galenus Abrahamsz de Haan the church he pastored came into contact with other streams of faith, including the Quakers.

What are some benefits of talking with people from other churches, such as Roman Catholics, Quakers, Baptists, Lutherans, and so on?

Economic Developments

However, over time there was another conflict in the Mennonite community.

There were two large churches: The Lamb church and The Sun church.

“Those worshiping at The Lamb church, and led by Galenus, were inclined toward a more liberal interpretation of the authority confessions and stressed the importance of right Christian living under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Those worshiping at The Sun church, the conservative wing, with the same intentions as the others, stressed the importance of right doctrine, calling for adherence to the old confessions and traditions of the past.”

(Dyck, 155-157).

There were some debates and some documents written from each side, but there didn’t seem to be a middle ground they agreed on.

However, there were other things happening as well.

Due to persecution earlier, Mennonites were not allowed to hold positions in public offices or become teachers, many became businessmen.

Over time they became quite wealthy.

Because of this they were now more socially “acceptable” to society, and this opened the door for education.

With a rise in education they wanted trained ministers for their churches.

So in 1735, a seminary was opened.

They built beautiful churches as well, and musical instruments were added to these new church buildings.

They also developed a concern for mutual aid.

They took care of the people in need in their own area, but also sent aid to the Mennonite churches farther south as well as those in Prussian and Poland to the east.

“A society was founded to aid the families of men lost at sea…a Mennonite merchant, established a foundation in Haarlem in 1778 to support museums and scientific research.

This foundation is still active.”

(Dyck, 158).

However, here again is the decline we talked about several weeks ago.

Nonresistance became less important, so some merchants armed their ships with guns in protection of pirates, and the churches did not object very much when nonresistance privileges were withdrawn by the government.

Some left the Mennonite church to join the Reformed Church.

“And so, while there had been some 160,000 Mennonites in the Netherlands in 1700, in 1808 there were only 26,953.

One hundred congregations became extinct in those 108 years…a baptized membership of 25,589 in 1978 and 18,000 in 1990.”

(Dyck, 158).

Since then there have been several developments that have reversed this decline.

Do we consider Mennonites “lost” if they move to a different church, such as Reformed or Baptist?

Why or why not?

Throughout northern Europe, Mennonites gained a reputation as honest, hospitable, and hard-working people.

As a result, many who didn’t agree with them spoke well of them, even if they didn’t agree with what they believed.

Many became very wealthy.

In the city of Krefeld, the von der Leyen family operated a textile mill with over 3,000 employees.

These and other successful Mennonites had a direct and positive impact on the cities and countries they lived in.

In fact, the von der Leyen family was knighted because of their achievements and became part of the German nobility.

Mennonites in Prussia/Poland 1640 ff

Many Mennonites moved to Prussia/Poland from the Netherlands because of persecution.

Here they received some favor from the government.

They turned much of the surrounding swampland into usable farmland, although many died of swamp fever during this period of land engineering and draining the swamps.

However, there was persecution here too.

There were many false charges laid, “usually initiated by those who were envious of their economic successes.”

(Dyck, 165).

During the 1700’s there was more toleration.

There was a migration of Mennonites farther into east Prussia after a famine wiped out a large part of the population there.

Throughout their time in Prussia, which later became part of Poland, they thrived and excelled in their work and lives.

There was a large Mennonite population there until the end of World War 2 in 1945.

After this, all Mennonites left with the retreating German forces, eventually settling in Germany or Canada.

To Russia: 1780ff

In 1762-63 Catharine II invited Europeans to settle the land in Southern Russia that had been won in war from the Turks.

Many people went over the next few decades, including Mennonites.

“

Was it OK for Mennonites to settle in lands that were taken from others through war?

Why or why not?

There were several reasons that many Mennonites migrated from Prussia to Russia.

First, there was a lot of military movement and preparations throughout Europe, which made the Mennonites in those areas nervous due to their nonviolent stance.

Another major reason was that they were running out of land.

“The problem arose from the fact that both military and church taxes were based on land ownership, and Mennonites would pay neither for support of the military nor of the state church.

The more land they owned, the more difficult it became for the state to finance military and church activities; they already owned approximately 300,000 acres.

Consequently, government controls prevented Mennonites from buying more land.

But they had large families to support and what should young couples do for a living?”

(Dyck, 169).

There were many factors involved in the decision to move to Russia.

How do we balance perseverance in difficulty and finding new growth and freedom opportunities?

As a result, when the invitation to Russia came, there were many open ears.

So they appointed two men, Johann Bartsch and Jacob Hoeppner to visit Russia and bring back a report.

So they left in 1786 and came back just over a year later.

“Russian colonial policy at the time aimed at a complete separation of all foreigners from the native population, with the result that colonies were quite independent in their affairs.

This pattern appealed to the Mennonites, who cherished the right to control their own religion, educational, and civic affairs as they had done in Prussia.

Among the privileges was the guarantee of complete religious freedom and exemption from military service for all time.

There was also an interesting provision granting the Mennonites special permission to brew beer and vinegar and distill brandy, a trade for which they had already been famous in Danzig and Prussia.”

(Dyck, 169-170).

The first families made their way to the area they had selected in the spring of 1789.

“The new colony, which by now consisted of 400 families, finally located on the banks of the Chortitza River, a tributary of the Dniepr River.

The entire settlement came to be known as the Chortitza Colony, or also Old Colony since it was the first Mennonite colony in Ukraine.”

(Dyck, 172).

Life was not easy for the first few years.

Construction materials were slow in coming, promised government funds didn’t come until years later, disease and death took many lives.

Horses were stolen or went missing.

The people were very poor.

Education and pastoral care were very low.