The Kleine Gemeinde had its beginning in the Molotschna Colony of Russia in 1812. Its members emigrated to North America in the migration of 1874 as two separate churches; the larger group settled in Manitoba, and the smaller group of approximately 36 families settled in Nebraska. The Manitoba Kleine Gemeinde changed its name to Evangelical Mennonite Church in 1952 and to Evangelical Mennonite Conference (EMC) in 1960.

Recent research in Kleine Gemeinde history has provided additional information on certain aspects of the group's history while in Russia. Two areas of significance are Kleine Gemeinde migrations within Russia and the divisions of 1866.

The Kleine Gemeinde migrations from the Molotschna Colony began in the early 1860s as an attempt to provide farming opportunities for landless members and to avoid political and administrative involvement in the mother colony. In 1863 they rented a property known as Markusland in Ekaterinoslav province and established two villages, Friedrichsthal and Andreasfeld. About a year later a small number of Kleine Gemeinde members rented land in Gurshafka vollest, Kherson province and settled in the village of Nicolaithal. That same year, 1865, the Borsenko colony, 20 miles N.W. of Nikopol, was purchased and the villages of Blumenhof, Heuboden, Rosenfeld, Steinbach, and Anafeld were established. Two other villages situated near Borsenko, Friedensfeld (1866) and Gruenfeld (1867), were also bought and settled by Kleine Gemeinde families. There was also a Kleine Gemeinde presence in the Crimea. This settlement, however, was due to a renewal movement rather than a colonization effort by the Kleine Gemeinde.

The Kleine Gemeinde divisions of 1866 were precipitated by a disagreement on disciplining a member, Abraham Thiessen (1838-89). Thiessen was one of the men in the Molotschna Colony who helped force colony administrators to divide colony land among the landless. This action produced sufficient opposition from the well-to-do farmers of the colony to force Russian government involvement. Evidently, the Kleine Gemeinde saw Thiessen's activity as being inconsistent with the church policy of noninvolvement in administrative affairs, and so Thiessen was excommunicated.

It seems, however, that a technicality in excommunication procedure was the cause of disunity. Thiessen had been told that his case would be dealt with at a prearranged Sunday meeting when he could be present to defend himself, but because of the urgency of the matter his case was presented to the church a week prior to the arranged time and the church voted to excommunicate him immediately. Thiessen, as well as other family members, took exception to this lack of due process and sought reinstatement.

Elder Johan Friesen (1808-72) also had second thoughts about the hasty decision and proposed that Thiessen be restored to fellowship. About half the members, under the leadership of minister Heinrich Enns (1801-81), were opposed to this proposal and consequently left Friesen's church. This group ordained Enns as their elder in 1866. However, he served in this capacity for only a few years before he was asked to resign.

Stability returned to the church after Peter Toews (1841-1922) was elected as elder and reconciliation took place between Toews' group and a major part of Johan Friesen's group under the direction of elder Jacob Wiebe (1837-1921) of the Crimea.

The members remaining with elder Johan Friesen were further divided in 1869 when Friesen excommunicated two ministers and two deacons. These excommunicated men formed the nucleus of another Kleine Gemeinde church which elected Abraham L. Friesen (1831-1917) as their elder. Most of this group emigrated to Jansen, NE in 1874.

The Evangelical Mennonite Conference has undergone numerous changes since the 1950s. Numerically it has grown from 6 Manitoba churches with a membership of 1,870 in 1951 to 53 churches in five Canadian provinces (British Columbia to Ontario) in 1997 and a membership of 5,813 in 1990. Not included in this total are mission churches in Germany, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Paraguay. Kleine Gemeinde members in Belize, who retained that name, have recently expanded to Nova Scotia.

The increase in membership in an expanding geographical area demanded new autonomy for the congregations. For a number of years after the congregations were given autonomy under Elder Peter Reimer in 1945, joint decisions were still made through regular ministerial meetings. However, greater laity involvement was soon reflected in the formation of Conference Council to help with administrative decisions. It was composed solely of men. The elected delegates from each congregation, together with ordained ministers and deacons, make up the council. In 1980 a revised administrative structure was accepted in which the conference churches were divided into eight geographic regions. Thus, as of 1990 each region elected one or more members to a General Board. The General Board, consisting of 15 members, was responsible for setting up an agenda for the semiannual Conference Council meeting. The Conference Council elected officers to conference and paraconference positions, evaluated and accepted an annual budget, and approved all administrative decisions. A conference pastor had been hired to maintain communication between the churches and regions, and an elected moderator chaired the General Board and Conference Council meetings. The EMC, however, has continued to call a number of ministerial meetings a year, the purpose of which is fellowship, sharing church information, and the presentation and discussion of theological and social issues.

While the ministerial meetings and the Conference Council continue to be open only to men, the women of the churches are increasingly involved in the support ministries of the conference. A special women's meeting is held concurrently with the Conference Council during the annual convention. A number of institutions, e.g., the Resthaven Home of Steinbach, Man.; Eventide Home of Rosenort, Man.; local hospitals; and Steinbach Bible College, are faithfully and practically supported by the women of the conference.

In practice the EMC churches have changed significantly during three decades. Most notable is the transition from the German to the English language in worship services. At the first annual convention in 1951 only the German language was used, but at the 1965 convention English had replaced German. Communion services in most conference churches include footwashing, however, the common cup with wine has generally been replaced with grape juice and individual cups. Another significant change from tradition was made in 1973 when the Conference Council adopted a resolution that would allow churches to practice baptism by immersion as well as the traditional pouring. While all of the older established churches continue to baptize by pouring, a few of the newer churches are also baptizing by immersion. In contrast to the 1950s, the majority of conference churches now support congregational singing with musical instruments and encourage choir and group participation. Many churches still practise a plural ministry with the leading minister placed on salary. Most of the younger ministers of the conference now have at least some formal theological training.

The Board of Missions was first organized in 1953 with five board members and a budget of $4,500. With an increase in expansion in home and foreign missions, the budget had risen to $1,088,000 in 1986. In 1997, 125 missionaries were serving under the board in Canada, Europe, Africa and Central and South America; five were serving under Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and 63 under other associate missions. This work is presently administered by a nine-member board which is elected by the Conference Council.

The Missions Auxiliary, a paraconference fundraising organization, was instrumental in providing funds to construct radio station ZP-30 in west Paraguay in 1975. This station was jointly sponsored by the EMC and the Chaco Mennonite colonies (Fernheim, Neuland, Menno).

The Board of Education and Publication, consisting of nine members, has been responsible for promoting Christian education in the conference, as well as being the publishing agent and editorial board for all conference publications. It has also been responsible for publishing the annual E.M.C. Yearbook, which records the yearly activities and records of the conference.

The Christlicher Familienfreund, a German language family paper containing church news, devotional articles, and personal letters, was first published in 1935. The paper was discontinued in 1984. The Messenger, an English biweekly publication of the EMC, was begun in 1962. Its purpose has been to inform readers about what is going on in the conference, to instruct in godliness and victorious living, and inspire readers to contend earnestly for the faith.

The conference archives are housed in the conference office in Steinbach, MB. The collection contains many early Kleine Gemeinde documents, as well as letters, sermons, diaries, and other records pertaining to the history of the Kleine Gemeinde.

For earlier history see Kleine Gemeinde

See also Conservative Mennonites (Dutch-Prussian-Russian).

Bibliography

Additional Information

Evangelical Mennonite Conference

Evangelical Mennonite Conference Confession of Faith

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 278-280. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2008 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.

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