Nepluyevka Mennonite Brethren Church (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine)
The Nepluyevka (Nepluyevo, Nikopol, Nikolaipol) Mennonite Brethren Church, about eight miles (13 km) from the city of Nikolaipol in the volost of Tchortomlek, Ekaterinoslav province (now Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), Ukraine, was first known as the Steinau Mennonite Brethren Church. The Russian name was adopted about 1897 by order of the Russian government. Peter Wiebe, Isaac Toews, Peter Loewen, Jacob Siemens, and Jacob Friesen were among the first settlers who came from the Chortitza settlement to this fertile area in 1870, and settled in two villages, Steinau and Blumenfeld. They organized the congregation about 1885, and in 1907 built their first meetinghouse of brick, with a seating capacity of over 500. The membership, which did not exceed 100, consisted mostly of farmers who used High German in their services, but Low German in the homes. The church functioned under the elder of the Einlage Mennonite Brethren Church, Aron Lepp, and later was led by Heinrich Friesen, Isaak Toews, Gerhard Siemens, and Peter Wiebe, with Johann Loewen as the choir director. This church experienced a great revival in the winter of 1906-1907, and also in the winter of 1911-1912. In 1907 Heinrich Friesen, one of their leading men, began extension work among the Russians in the surrounding villages, and thus a Russian evangelical church came into being, which bought the Mennonite Brethren church building in 1918 and used the material to build two churches for themselves.
Much of the land under cultivation was only rented to the Mennonites and this weakened the stability of the settlement. A number had already moved away before World War I; and after the Revolution of 1918, especially during the severe Bolshevist persecution, the membership scattered, some moving to Siberia, others to Steinfeld, Friedensfeld, and other places, and the church ceased to exist about 1932.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 204.
| Author(s) | Jacob J Toews |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1957 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Toews, Jacob J. "Nepluyevka Mennonite Brethren Church (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nepluyevka_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Dnipropetrovsk_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=144473.
APA style
Toews, Jacob J. (1957). Nepluyevka Mennonite Brethren Church (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nepluyevka_Mennonite_Brethren_Church_(Dnipropetrovsk_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=144473.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 823. All rights reserved.
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