-being the Magazine/Journal of the Hanover Steinbach Historical Society Inc. Preservings $20.00 No. 21, December, 2002 “A people who have not the pride to record their own history will not long have the virtues to make their history worth recording; and no people who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their future great.” — Jan Gleysteen The Ältesten - Faithful Servants of God Since the time of the Reformation, the Lord,...Hence apply to them oil and wine, as We are proud to feature the biographies of Ältesten of the Flemish Mennonite faith have did the true Samaritan to the wounded two Ältester: Isaak G. Dyck (1847-1929), stood valiantly as guardians on the battlements man.....be faithful to Him that esteemed you Chortitza, Rosenthal, Russia, and his cousin’s of Zion defending their flocks from the on- faithful, and accepted you as His ministers, grandson, Peter S. Wiebe (1888-1970), slaughts of Satan. The courage and spiritual and stewards of His mysteries....Hence be dili- Eigengrund, East Reserve, Manitoba. They integrity of the Ältester was critical in a com- gent labourers of the Lord in His vineyard, served their Lord and Saviour on two conti- munity continually facing persecution, flight and faithful builders in His house,” Martyrs’ nents and over two centuries. Their valiant and resettlement in search of religious free- Mirror, page 689. labours in the vineyard of Jesus Christ speak dom. The vital role of the Ältester holds promi- In the words of Kleine Gemeinde theolo- of the outstanding dedication, courage and nent place in the cannon of Mennonite devo- gian Heinrich Balzer (1800-46), Tiege, Rus- steadfastness which has characterized the tional literature. sia, the Ältester “...strikes valiantly and cou- Flemish Mennonite “Ohms” over the centu- In 1565, Ältester Matthias Servaes, rageously against the hellish dragon with the ries. Ältester Menno Simons (1496-1561), the great Friesian reformer who gathered the despised and persecuted Anabaptists into a discipled and Christo-centric church tradition, proudly bearing Isaak G. Dyck, Ältester of the Chortitza (Old Peter S. Wiebe, Ältester of the Chortitzer Gemeinde, his name. Engraving, ca. 1608, by C. van Sichem, Colony) Gemeinde, Russia, ca. 1890. Hebrews Hanover, Manitoba, 1966. A man of deep integ- the oldest likeness of Menno. Photo - I. B. Horst, 11:37-39 speaks for the courage of this great man rity and prophetic faith. His leadership was char- “De portretten van Menno Simons,” in of God who pastured his flock in the midst of the acterized by progressive orthodoxy. Photo cour- Doopsgezinde Bijdragen, 1986-7, page 172f. most severe persecution known to mankind. Photo tesy of granddaughter Mary Borkowsky, Steinbach, - Men. Martyrer: Band I, page 380. Manitoba. Kottenem, a favourite writer of Kleine staff of the Godly word, and who calls out Inside This Issue Gemeinde founder Klaas Reimer, wrote to unceasingly to the poor lambs, and demon- family and co-workers from his prison cell strates how they are to guard themselves Feature Articles ............................ 3-36 while awaiting execution, encouraging “all against the evil one in order that they will not President’s Report ............................37 those that are appointed to watch over the be consumed, one who personally leads his souls of men, exercise your office with dili- flock in the face of rejection, who spares no Editorial ...................................... 38-42 gence, that you may not be found slothful, endeavour nor exertion and who rejects all Letters ........................................ 44-49 drowsy or negligent in it; but that you may be earthly gain, if only he might guard and pre- News ........................................ 50-78 faithful watchmen, who truly and honestly serve the poor embattled Gemeinde which is lead out and feed the flock of Christ, and this in danger of being overwhelmed and to tear Articles ..................................... 79-120 with all humility and meekness...give atten- them from the clutches of Satan’s revenge,” Material Culture ..................... 121-131 dance to reading, to exhortation, to reproof, from “An Epistle to Heinrich Rempel, Altona, and this with all discretion, in the fear of the 1835,” The Golden Years, page 224. Book Reviews........................ 132-140 Introduction - Feature story “The Ältesten: Servants of God” The feature story for this issue of Preservings is and placing it into a contemporary context, relevant the late 18th century the colloquial language of the the “Ältester”, the most important ecclesiastical of- to both conservative and assimilated Mennonites Russian Mennonites has been the Low German dia- fice among the Flemish Mennonites. The Ältester alike. We are delighted to present another article by lect originating in the Vistula Delta. Many readers was referred to as the “oudste” in the native Dutch Bluffton, Ohio, theologian J. Denny Weaver, “The may be surprised to learn that one of the significance or Nieder-Frankisch. The term “Ältester” in the Biblical Basis for Non-violence.” A look at the influences on “Mennonite” Plautdietsch was the German language is translated as “elder” and some- Anabaptist roots of Mennonites through the writ- Russian language. The topic is explored through a times also as “Bishop”. (The term “Ollsta” was ings of Professor Arnold Synder, Kitchener, Ontario, number of letters written by linguist Walter Quiring preserved and still in use among the Old Colony completes this section. and educator Peter Braun and published in Der Bote Mennonites in Mexico in the 1930s, see Pres, No. Evangelicals, and particulary American Funda- in 1927 to 1929. This is supplemented by a list of 20, page 102). mentalists, are in the midst of a major push for world Russian words in Low German compiled by Adina Before the 1560s the “oudsten” travelled around hegemony. Several Mennonite leaders and educa- Reger, Weißenthurm, Germany, and myself. serving several Gemeinden because the severe per- tors have suggested that the future for Mennonites is Another feature of our culture are the material secution made it unsafe to remain at one location. Evangelical. The editorial addresses this question, items and traditions which have been adopted from The Ältesten, in particular, were cruely hunted down taking the opposite view. The letters section again various lands and transplanted with Mennonites as with bounties on their heads. Only after persecu- reflects the diversity of thinking among Mennonites they migrated from country to country. Among these tion subsided did they become stationary and asso- and those of Mennonite background. The letters and are the wonderful “trakjcha klockche” (pendulum ciated with a particular Gemeinde: S. Zilstra, sometimes vigorous editorial responses are intended clocks) with roots going back to Royal Poland and Geschiedenis van de dopersen in de Nederlanden to stimulate readers in their faith pilgrimage by mov- Flanders. These clocks once graced the walls of 1531-1675 (Leeuwarden, 2000), page 250. ing beyond the stock rhetoric and superficial cliches most Russian Mennonite homes. Mennonites were The Ältester had a function and role unique of “pop” religious culture. innovative people and soon they were manufactur- among Christian confessions. They were leaders but This issue of Preservings features a “super- ing these clocks, a craft taken along to Russia in the not rulers, always subject to the democratic vote of sized” news section with stories of Russian Men- 18th century. Tony Funk, Hague, Saskatchewan, the brotherhood - the highest authority in the Flemish nonites in various parts of the globe. We are pleased has contributed an article on the Mennonite clock- Gemeinden. “An elder, however, was supposed to to feature the visit of Mexican President Vicente making tradition of Prussia and Russia. In our next be a constant example of unquestionable purity in Fox to the La Honda Colony in Zacatecus, an im- issue we will feature an article by Arthur Kroeker, spirit and behaviour and to show in the area of faith portant milestone for the Mennonite community in Winnipeg, on the family clock making enterprise in an infallible knowledge,” Verheyden, Anabaptism in Mexico which has hardly received any coverage in Rosenthal, Russia. Flanders (Scottdale, 1961), pages 23-24. the Canadian media. Brüdergemeinders have often distinguished The office of Ältester is an example of the evan- Since the time of the Reformation, the enemies themselves from Kirchliche Mennonites because gelical polity and organization of the communities of the Flemish Mennonites have disparaged them of their view that the only valid salvation was a or Gemeinden in Christo-centric faith. The admoni- by spreading falsehoods and untruths about their dramatic and instantly recountable coversion expe- tion of the Apostle Paul to Titus, “to ordain Ältesten beloved Ältesten, portraying them as the “evil rience. What impressed me when I opened my copy in every city” was the basis for their election and Ohms”. In modern times, Evangelical Fundamen- of missionary Jakob A. Loewen’s book Educating ordination for every Gemeinde. The duties, obliga- talists have similarly targeted conservative Menno- Tiger, was that he shar ed the more biblical view tions and functions of the office and the office holder nites in Mexico and Bolivia in an unholy war. The held by most traditionalist (Kirchliche) and conser- were defined in more than 200 passages in the Old article “The Lonely Ohm - Myth and Reality” ex- vative Mennonites, that the New Testament models as well as New Testament. The writings of seminal plores the historical roots of the myth of “the evil various ways of coming to faith. Ken Reddig, past leaders such as Menno Simons, Dirk Philips, Ohm”, the Biblical vision of Christo-centric faith, Director of MCC Canada and a former student of Thielmann Janz von Braght, and others, as well as the role of the Lehrdienst within that religious cul- Dr. Loewens’, reviews this prophetic book on mis- the protocol and traditions which developed from ture, and illuminates the work of the “lonely Ohm” sions and evangelism.