View source for Billau, August (1847-1892)

August Billau, born in 1847 at Darmstadt, [[Germany|Germany]], studied theology for three years in Bonn; in 1869, at the age of 24, he was chosen as Mennonite minister at [[Neuwied (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)|Neuwied]] in place of C. Harder, who had been called to [[Elbing (Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland)|Elbing]], and was ordained on 8 March 1871 by [[Weydmann, Ernst (1837-1903)|Weydmann]] of [[Krefeld (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany)|Krefeld]]. For 21 years he faithfully filled the office. He took great pains to gather the small, scattered congregation. Through liberal gifts from the Dutch and North German Mennonite churches, amounting to 4,887 marks, he was able to make extensive repairs in the church and the parsonage. A gift of 1,500 marks, given by a woman in grateful recognition of his pastoral service to her, made it possible to procure a new organ. His influence, borne by his love for the church, extended far beyond his congregation. He frequently participated in the conferences of the Palatine and Hessian Mennonites. In 1880 he preached an anniversary sermon in [[Monsheim (Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)|Monsheim]]. He took active part in the formation of the [[Vereinigung der deutschen Mennonitengemeinden (Union of German Mennonite Congregations)|Vereinigung der Mennoniten-Gemeinden im Deutschen Reich]]. At the preliminary meeting in Neuwied in 1885 he presided as chairman. He died 24 July 1892, not quite 45 years of age.
= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 222.

<em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonitische Blätter</em> (1885): 60, 108 f.; (1892): 121.
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