Religion > The Brethren Movement
The Brethren Movement
In addition to the primary religious denominations, an early pietistic movement evolved into an organized body of considerable strength and influence in the German-Russian colonies. Der Brüderschaft Versammlung (known as the "Brotherhood," or more commonly the "Brethren") movement might be described as an auxiliary to the Protestant churches.
The Brethren were part of the Stundist revival movement that began with the German settlers in South Russia, taking its name from the Stunde or devotional "hour" in which adherents would gather in homes to sing, pray, and read scripture. The movement emphasized individual moral and spiritual regeneration, cultivating an inner spiritual life and rejecting material pleasures.
Rev. Wilhelm Stärkel was one of the few Volga German clerics who supported the Brethren movement. Many of his colleagues tried to suppress the Brethren, which resulted in tensions between lay people and the clergy. For some, these tensions prompted immigration to the United States and Canada.
Because of Rev. Stärkel's support, many people in Norka belonged to the Brethren. Once a year, there was a minor regional parish conference for the Brethren. Likewise, there were two large general conferences, one on the Bergseite (hilly side of the Volga River) and the Wiesenseite (meadowside). The conferences were always held in Norka and Brunnental (a daughter colony of Norka).
Traveling evangelists, who preached a warm living faith, soon established Brüder Versammlung (Brethren prayer meetings). The evangelist H. P. Ehlers, born in the colony of Dinkel, visited Norka regularly. Ehlers exerted significant influence through his charismatic speaking, tactful leadership, sane judgment, and helpful influence wherever he labored. His actions gained him considerable authority, and all accepted his wise counsel.
Although the Brethren organized private prayer circles and Bible study, they simultaneously participated in all the church functions. They put into practice the theory of the priesthood of all believers. Almost without exception, Brethren members were the nucleus of the individual church organizations and directed their development.
The main difference when compared to the teaching of the Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran church) is the very prominent place the Brethren gave to the prophetic books of the Old and New Testaments and, therefore, also to the teaching of millennialism, a belief strongly supported by Rev. Stärkel who wrote a book on this topic.
The primary organization of the Brethren was the local prayer meeting. These meetings, which were instituted on behalf of practical piety, were led and directed by laymen. The meetings were held four times a week—Wednesday evening, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon, and Sunday evening. A Christian bond of union arose among those who met four times a week to hear God's Word, to confess their sins, to give their testimonies, and to tell of their spiritual triumphs. There, they rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept with those who wept. Bound together by common spiritual aspirations, these circles of pious friends and steadfast companions watched over each other and helped bear one another's burdens.
The elders appointed three Brethren to lead the group at each prayer meeting. In their addresses, the leaders frequently referred to their own conversion and laid down the fundamental premise that all who wished to be saved must be born again. The listeners were made supremely aware of the danger of a literal hell and told of the horror of everlasting punishment. They condemned this world and thought only of the next.
The Brethren quoted numerous Bible passages in support of their views. The singing of revival hymns was a conspicuous part of the meeting, even before its opening. Necessity forced the adoption of "lining" the hymns, for the whole group possessed only a few copies of each German hymn book. The lines, read by one of the leaders and repeated in song by the group, proved of great value because the converts thereby memorized hundreds of sacred songs.
The prayer meeting was a place where plainness of dress was the rule. Everyone was met and greeted with heartfelt interest, and the story of trouble was heard with deep sympathy. No formality could exist where such feeling reigned. No effort was needed to draw people together. In Russia, private homes generally served as the meeting places. In some villages, modest prayer-meeting halls were erected.
The Sisters (women) occupied separate pews and were generally silent during the meetings. Upon entering the prayer meeting hall, one would see all the men seated in the pews on the left and all the women seated on the right with their heads covered. Songs were sung about 15 minutes before the appointed time for the official opening. After that, the elders ask the Brethren to "go forward." The first named person took his place on the center chair and took charge of the meeting. He opened the meeting by announcing a hymn from the Wolga Gesangbuch, the church hymnal used in the Lutheran Church among the Volga colonists in Russia. He "lined" this hymn for the audience. Following the hymn, he led in prayer with the converts kneeling. Thereupon, without any announcement, someone in the audience started a song, which was taken up by the assembled group. While a few verses were being sung, the center leader chose the text, usually from eight to twelve verses in length. Following the Scripture reading, selected on the spot, a song was sung appropriate to the ideas of the text, and he made timely applications from it.
At the close of his address, an appropriate song was sung, after which either the Brother to the right or left of the main leader brought his message. He used the same text and devoted eight to ten minutes to his remarks. He frequently began by saying that what has been said is in harmony with God's Holy Word. His speech was followed by a few stanzas of a hymn and that, in turn, by the discourse of the other Brother. The meetings, which lasted an hour and a half or even longer, were closed officially with the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.
In 1888, the Czarist government banned Stundism and began prosecuting its believers. This act undoubtedly prompted more Volga Germans to emigrate from Russia. The Brethren movement continued in many areas where immigrants from Norka settled in the New World. In places such as Portland, Oregon, the names of several churches founded by Norka immigrants referenced the Brethren movement (the German Congregational Evangelical Brethren Church and the Free Evangelical Brethren Church), and nearly all of the Volga German congregations held Brethren meetings up until the 1990s.
The Brethren were part of the Stundist revival movement that began with the German settlers in South Russia, taking its name from the Stunde or devotional "hour" in which adherents would gather in homes to sing, pray, and read scripture. The movement emphasized individual moral and spiritual regeneration, cultivating an inner spiritual life and rejecting material pleasures.
Rev. Wilhelm Stärkel was one of the few Volga German clerics who supported the Brethren movement. Many of his colleagues tried to suppress the Brethren, which resulted in tensions between lay people and the clergy. For some, these tensions prompted immigration to the United States and Canada.
Because of Rev. Stärkel's support, many people in Norka belonged to the Brethren. Once a year, there was a minor regional parish conference for the Brethren. Likewise, there were two large general conferences, one on the Bergseite (hilly side of the Volga River) and the Wiesenseite (meadowside). The conferences were always held in Norka and Brunnental (a daughter colony of Norka).
Traveling evangelists, who preached a warm living faith, soon established Brüder Versammlung (Brethren prayer meetings). The evangelist H. P. Ehlers, born in the colony of Dinkel, visited Norka regularly. Ehlers exerted significant influence through his charismatic speaking, tactful leadership, sane judgment, and helpful influence wherever he labored. His actions gained him considerable authority, and all accepted his wise counsel.
Although the Brethren organized private prayer circles and Bible study, they simultaneously participated in all the church functions. They put into practice the theory of the priesthood of all believers. Almost without exception, Brethren members were the nucleus of the individual church organizations and directed their development.
The main difference when compared to the teaching of the Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran church) is the very prominent place the Brethren gave to the prophetic books of the Old and New Testaments and, therefore, also to the teaching of millennialism, a belief strongly supported by Rev. Stärkel who wrote a book on this topic.
The primary organization of the Brethren was the local prayer meeting. These meetings, which were instituted on behalf of practical piety, were led and directed by laymen. The meetings were held four times a week—Wednesday evening, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon, and Sunday evening. A Christian bond of union arose among those who met four times a week to hear God's Word, to confess their sins, to give their testimonies, and to tell of their spiritual triumphs. There, they rejoiced with those who rejoiced and wept with those who wept. Bound together by common spiritual aspirations, these circles of pious friends and steadfast companions watched over each other and helped bear one another's burdens.
The elders appointed three Brethren to lead the group at each prayer meeting. In their addresses, the leaders frequently referred to their own conversion and laid down the fundamental premise that all who wished to be saved must be born again. The listeners were made supremely aware of the danger of a literal hell and told of the horror of everlasting punishment. They condemned this world and thought only of the next.
The Brethren quoted numerous Bible passages in support of their views. The singing of revival hymns was a conspicuous part of the meeting, even before its opening. Necessity forced the adoption of "lining" the hymns, for the whole group possessed only a few copies of each German hymn book. The lines, read by one of the leaders and repeated in song by the group, proved of great value because the converts thereby memorized hundreds of sacred songs.
The prayer meeting was a place where plainness of dress was the rule. Everyone was met and greeted with heartfelt interest, and the story of trouble was heard with deep sympathy. No formality could exist where such feeling reigned. No effort was needed to draw people together. In Russia, private homes generally served as the meeting places. In some villages, modest prayer-meeting halls were erected.
The Sisters (women) occupied separate pews and were generally silent during the meetings. Upon entering the prayer meeting hall, one would see all the men seated in the pews on the left and all the women seated on the right with their heads covered. Songs were sung about 15 minutes before the appointed time for the official opening. After that, the elders ask the Brethren to "go forward." The first named person took his place on the center chair and took charge of the meeting. He opened the meeting by announcing a hymn from the Wolga Gesangbuch, the church hymnal used in the Lutheran Church among the Volga colonists in Russia. He "lined" this hymn for the audience. Following the hymn, he led in prayer with the converts kneeling. Thereupon, without any announcement, someone in the audience started a song, which was taken up by the assembled group. While a few verses were being sung, the center leader chose the text, usually from eight to twelve verses in length. Following the Scripture reading, selected on the spot, a song was sung appropriate to the ideas of the text, and he made timely applications from it.
At the close of his address, an appropriate song was sung, after which either the Brother to the right or left of the main leader brought his message. He used the same text and devoted eight to ten minutes to his remarks. He frequently began by saying that what has been said is in harmony with God's Holy Word. His speech was followed by a few stanzas of a hymn and that, in turn, by the discourse of the other Brother. The meetings, which lasted an hour and a half or even longer, were closed officially with the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.
In 1888, the Czarist government banned Stundism and began prosecuting its believers. This act undoubtedly prompted more Volga Germans to emigrate from Russia. The Brethren movement continued in many areas where immigrants from Norka settled in the New World. In places such as Portland, Oregon, the names of several churches founded by Norka immigrants referenced the Brethren movement (the German Congregational Evangelical Brethren Church and the Free Evangelical Brethren Church), and nearly all of the Volga German congregations held Brethren meetings up until the 1990s.
Sources
Eisenach, George J. Pietism and the Russian Germans in the United States. Berne, IN: Berne, 1948. 142-192. Print.
Long, James. From Privileged to Dispossessed. Lincoln, Nebraska: U of Nebraska, 1988. 45. Print.
Schultheis, Fabian Zubia. "Influence of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine among the Volga Germans". AHSGR Journal, Spring 2020. Pages 10-15.
Long, James. From Privileged to Dispossessed. Lincoln, Nebraska: U of Nebraska, 1988. 45. Print.
Schultheis, Fabian Zubia. "Influence of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine among the Volga Germans". AHSGR Journal, Spring 2020. Pages 10-15.
Last updated November 21, 2023