Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005
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~ Being the Journal of the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation Inc. Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 “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 former Mennonite Church in Elbing (Elblag). The first Mennonite Church in the Vistula-Nogat delta regions was built in Elbing, 1590. Today, this building serves a Polish Catholic parish. (P. J. Klassen, Homeland for Strangers, following p. 47) Editorial and table of contents ...................... 4 Feature Articles .......................................21-60 Material Culture ......................................92-93 Tributes to Delbert F. Plett ........................5-10 Biographies .............................................61-82 Letters to the Editor ..................................... 93 D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation .. 11 Articles ....................................................83-90 Book Reviews .........................................94-98 Delbert Plett’s final words .......................12-20 News............................................................. 91 Tribute to Adina Reger ................................. 99 Top left: The former United Flemish and Frisian Mennonite Church in Danzig (Gdansk). Today, a Pentecostal congregation worships there. (P. J. Klassen, A Homeland for Strangers, following p. 47) Bottom left: In Preussisch-Rosengart (Rozgart) this former Mennonite church building now serves a Catholic parish. (P. J. Klassen, A Homeland for Strangers, following p. 47) Top right: A local Catholic parish uses the former Mennonite church in Montau (Matawy). (P. J. Klassen, A Homeland for Strangers, following p. 47) Bottom right: In Thiensdorf (Jezioro) the building used by a former Mennonite congregation is now a storage building. (P. J. Klassen, A Homeland for Strangers, following p. 47) Delbert F. Plett, Q.C. 1948-2004 A year ago we were all saddened when Delbert Plett died. He had filled a large role in researching the his- Preservings 2005 - Table of Contents tory of conservative Mennonites, and advocating that John J. Friesen, Leonard Doell, co-editors they be given respect and recognition. Would this work Editorial/Forward continue? John J. Friesen .................................................................................................................................4 A number of years ago, Delbert established the D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, Inc., and named Tributes to Delbert Plett its first members. He willed the bulk of his estate to this Obituary – by the family ..................................................................................................................5 Foundation, and gave it the mandate to continue his life Royden Loewen ..............................................................................................................................5 work. Since Delbert had been providing the resources Abe Rempel ....................................................................................................................................8 to publish the Preservings, the Flemish Mennonite His- John J. Friesen .................................................................................................................................9 torical Society offered to transfer responsibility for the Henry Schapansky ...........................................................................................................................9 journal to the Foundation. The Foundation appointed Leonard Doell from Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, and me, D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation to co-edit the Preservings. Mission statement .........................................................................................................................11 In the last months of his life Delbert planned much Research areas and themes ............................................................................................................11 the content of the 2005 issue, and so it fell to us to bring the issue to completion. The Foundation plans to contin- Delbert F. Plett’s Final Words ....................................................................................................12 ue publishing the Preservings. We as editors are work- Feature Articles: Mennonites in the Netherlands and Poland/Prussia ing on the subsequent issues. Seventeenth Century Dutch Mennonite Prayer Books - Piet Visser ..............................................21 This issue includes tributes to Delbert Plett. Most Affirming the old Fundamentals – A Survey of the Danzig Old-Flemish Congregations in the were written at the occasion of his funeral, and reflect Netherlands - Willem Stuve ..........................................................................................................29 the emotion and sense of loss at that event. After an in- Saved from Oblivion: A Portrait of the (Danzig) Old-Flemish Elders in the Netherlands troduction to the mission and goals of the Plett Founda- - Willem Stuve .............................................................................................................................36 tion, a number of articles by Delbert Plett are included. Written during the final months of his life, they express Dirk Philips: Early Leader of Dutch Anabaptists - William Keeney (reprinted with permission) .......40 in his straightforward, bold, and sometimes sharp style, Connected by Seas, Windmills and Faith - Peter J. Klassen Four Centuries of Prussian .............43 some of the main themes and concerns that consumed Mennonites - Bruno Ewert (reprinted with permission) ................................................................48 his life. As such they function like editorials in which he George Hansen 1636-1703 - Harvey G. Plett, (reprinted with permission) ..................................52 provides admonition and advice to people about whom Maritime Trade and Shipbuilding in Danzig - (reprinted with permission) Translated by Reuben he cared deeply. Epp ................................................................................................................................................55 The feature articles reflect Delbert’s growing inter- Mennonite Artists in Danzig and Koenigsberg - Kurt Kauenhoven (reprinted with permission) ........58 est in recent years to examine the historical background Biographies to the present conservative Mennonite communities. Aeltester Martin C. Friesen, by John Dyck ...................................................................................61 The articles are divided into two categories: those deal- Acceptance Sermon by Aeltester Jacob F. Isaac, by Peter R. Dueck ............................................63 ing with Mennonite life in the Netherlands, and those Peter Neufeld of Neukirch , by Henry Schapansky .......................................................................67 focusing on Poland and Prussia. Both areas have been Joseph Nowitsky, by Tim Janzen ...................................................................................................68 largely unknown within Mennonite circles in North Abram Schroeder, by Ray Schroeder .............................................................................................70 America. Even less is known of the role and contribution Siberian Diary: Aron P. Toews, by Olga Rempel .........................................................................73 of conservative Mennonites in those regions, since most Cornelius T. “Rawleigh” Toews, by Jim Doerksen .......................................................................81 histories have focused on the more liberal leaders and groups. These very fine articles provide a long-overdue Articles corrective to this neglected history. Borosenko-A Traditional Mennonite Home, by Adina Reger and Delbert Plett ...........................83 The biographies, as usual, provide unique and per- Critic and Community: John Howard Yoder, by Steven Nolt .......................................................88 sonal windows into the larger Mennonite story. A sec- The Missional Church, by Titus Guenther ....................................................................................90 ond set of articles are designed to present issues from new perspectives. News – Recent Developments Mennonite Conference in Steegen, by Peter J. Voth ......................................................................91 After a few items about news, material culture, and Tim Allen “Tool Time,” by Delbert Plett .......................................................................................91 book reviews, the issue concludes with a tribute to Adina Reger. Delbert and Adina cooperated in the compiling Material Culture of Diese Steine, a book about Russian Mennonite his- The Klass Reimer Bible, by Henry Fast ........................................................................................92 tory. Considered by Delbert as his most important pub- Brommtopp ...................................................................................................................................93 lication, he distributed almost 10,000 copies in Europe and Latin America, most of them free of charge. It is Letter to the Editor ......................................................................................................................93