[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Faiths of the Volhynian Germans--Baptists

[richard benert]

In case Don Miller is too modest to mention his book, "In the Midst of 
Wolves, a History of German Baptists in Volhynia, Russia, 1863-1943", then 
I'll mention it.  We certainly don't know as much about Baptists as we'd 
like to know, but Don's book is invaluable for anyone interested.

Incidentally, a scholar named Heather Coleman has recently (1998) written a 
PhD dissertation at the U. of Illinois.  It's "The Most Dangerous Sect: 
Baptists in Tsarist and Soviet Russia, 1905-1929".   It will appear as a 
book next year under the title "Russian Baptists and Spiritual Revolution, 
1905-1929".  This may or may not have information on German Baptists in 
Volhynia.  I haven't seen it yet, but will quite soon.  The thesis is 
available for purchase online, in case anyone is interested, from Bell and 
Howell.  I think it's at umi.com.

Anyway, Jerry, the short answer to your question about Baptists is that some 
came as Baptists from Poland and Prussia, and some were converted through 
the efforts of a few missionaries, most notably, Gottfried Alf.

Dick Benert
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Frank" <FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 8:01 AM
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Faiths of the Volhynian Germans


> At 09:22 PM 18/11/2004, Donna Baxmeyer wrote:
>>    Do you have time and space to explain more about the Moravian 
>> Brethren, and the Baptist researchers?  Any help is greatly appreciated.
>>Warm regards,
>>Donna Baxmeyer
>>torhaus at telus.net
>
> Here is a very brief primer on the faiths of our Volhynian German 
> ancestors.  I would encourage others to add to various components as they 
> see fit.
>
> Lutheran
> I would guestimate that 95% or more of the Germans in Volhynia were 
> Lutheran.  It is the group for which the most records are available.  For 
> those of you with ancestors in the other faiths, you should be interested 
> in following up on the Lutherans as well.  The reason is that most of 
> those in the other faiths in Volhynia were converts from Lutheran.
>
> Moravian Brethren
> We had several presentations on this group at our 2003 convention in 
> Edmonton.  As I understand it, they were historically a mission group 
> before evolving into denomination status of today.  Today we might use the 
> term, para-church organization to describe what they used to be like. 
> They tried to work within established churches to improve the spirituality 
> of the people and their relationship to God.  They were accepted, perhaps 
> grudgingly, by Lutherans in some areas (e.g. the Gabin region of Russian 
> Poland).  In other areas like Volhynia, there was greater conflict. 
> Several dozen families officially removed themselves from the roll of the 
> Lutheran Church in Volhynia.
>
> Baptist
> I don't know the detailed history of the Baptists in Volhynia.  I don't 
> know if a group of them came to Volhynia or if they evolved as the result 
> of the mission work of a single person.  They were scattered in various 
> locations in Volhynia but were centred in the region to the east of 
> Heimtal.
>
> Church of God
> I know nothing of this history as applied to Volhynia except to say that 
> numbers of Volhynian Germans attended this church upon arrival in Canada. 
> If Ed Sonnenberg is reading this, perhaps he can expand a little on their 
> history.
>
> Reformed Church
> There was a small Reformed Church component in western Volhynia.  I have 
> never seen an inquiry about them there nor have I heard of any 
> connections.  We only know about them through the existence of record 
> books in the Reformed Church Consistory which are held in a Lithuanian 
> Archive and which have been microfilmed by the LDS.  They are written in 
> Russian Cyrillic so no research that I am aware of has been done in this 
> material.
>
> Catholic
> In 18 years, I have only seen one or two queries about Catholic Germans in 
> Volhynia.  They are generally unusual circumstances, associated with 
> residence in cities or remote parts of Volhynia where other Germans did 
> not live.  I am surprised that there were not more Catholic Germans who 
> might have migrated in from Galicia.
>
> Mennonite
> There were a few Mennonite villages in Volhynia but their history is 
> sporadic as people from this "nomadic" group often moved on to other parts 
> of Russia rather than laying down firm roots in Volhynia.
>
> If I've made any errors in this description, I apologize and would 
> encourage you to correct them as required.  Feel free to create new 
> threads specific to one group or another - so long as the discussion is 
> related to the faith of our ancestors.  No theological debates, please.
>
>
>
>
> Jerry Frank - Calgary, Alberta
> FranklySpeaking at shaw.ca
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