Peter Epp, Elder of the Pordenau Mennonite Church, Molotschna, Russia, was born in 1862 at Prangenau, Molotschna, and married Sara Klassen in 1885. His family consisted of seven children. One son, Jacob Epp, was minister and leader of the Mennonite Brethren congregation at Steinbach, Manitoba. Epp received his elementary education at his native village, then attended the Zentralschule at Gnadenfeld. In 1893 he became minister and in 1910 was ordained elder of the Pordenau church. From the very beginning he did pioneer work in his congregation, which when he took charge of it was backward in many ways. In its life and worship many forms and customs dominated which had outlived their usefulness and kept religious life at a standstill. Epp changed all this gradually and brought a new spirit into the congregation. He also reorganized the singing in his church and for the first time introduced choir singing. Epp died in 1922 during the great typhoid epidemic after exposure to the disease when visiting the many sick and dying of his congregation.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 237. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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