Ukrainian Mennonite General Conference
Ukrainian Mennonite General Conference was held 5-8 October 1926, in the town of Melitopol, Ukraine, Russia, with 84 representatives from the USSR (Ukrainian Soviet Republic), 64 of these from the Mennonite Church (Kirchliche Mennoniten) and 19 from the Mennonite Brethren and Alliance groups. The total membership of the churches represented was 18,356 in the Mennonite Church and 4,025 in other groups. From other parts of Soviet Russia 14 representatives came, who were given an advisory voice in the conference; of these, two came from the Volga-Trakt area, two from the Caucasus, two from the Crimea, three from Siberia, one from Neu-Samara, two from Orenburg, one from Ufa, and one from Turkestan. This conference was a successor to the General Conference of Mennonites (see Allgemeine Bundeskonferenz). The proceedings were conducted in the German language. The sessions were also attended by two representatives of the Ukrainian Soviet government, which had given permission for the meeting. The central business of the conference was establishing an organization for the Mennonite churches in the Ukraine. The organization was built on four levels: first, the autonomous individual congregations; second, the local district union; third, the All-Ukrainian Union; and fourth, the union in the framework of the entire Soviet Union. The projected constitution was accepted by a committee with small changes, to be presented at once for ratification. The first executive committee for the republic was chosen at once, consisting of 11 persons. The second point on the agenda was the Bible school. Not much time was devoted to this subject, since the conference was permitted to deal only with the principle of the question. The vote showed that it was the wish of the meeting to have a general Bible school for all the Mennonite branches, to be under the management of the conference.
The improvement of religious and moral conditions in the congregations was discussed, together with suggested means toward achieving this end. Work for the young people was the last matter discussed.
This conference holds an important place in the history of the Russian Mennonite churches in that it was the first conference in the framework of the Ukraine. Unfortunately no further meetings were permitted by the government.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967. v. IV.
| Author(s) | David H Epp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1959 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Epp, David H. "Ukrainian Mennonite General Conference." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ukrainian_Mennonite_General_Conference&oldid=78371.
APA style
Epp, David H. (1959). Ukrainian Mennonite General Conference. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ukrainian_Mennonite_General_Conference&oldid=78371.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 769. All rights reserved.
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