Background
The Evangelical Mennonite Conference began in 1812 in the Molotschna settlement of southern Russia (now Ukraine) as the Kleine Gemeinde (Small Church) a group of Low German-speaking (Plautdietsch-speaking) Mennonites of Dutch-German-Russian cultural background.
Klaas Reimer (1770-1837), a Mennonite minister from Gdansk, settled in Molotschna in 1805. Reimer felt the Mennonites of the area were too lax in doctrine and piety, and began to hold meetings in homes in 1812. He was joined by another minister, Cornelius Janzen, and eighteen members, who together recognized themselves as a separate church body in 1814.
As for reasons for the 1812 separation, an 1838 pamphlet addresses five disputes with the main Mennonite body. The primary complaint was that Mennonite leaders were straying from their traditional nonresistant stance when they turned lawbreakers over to the government for punishment while at the same time church leaders became more lax in enforcing spiritual discipline. An increased use of alcohol and other vices were cited as evidence.
The second problem was inconsistent application of discipline for minor offenses; while the breakaway group was banned, other types of offenses were ignored. Third, to a disloyalty charge, they reaffirmed their submission to the government while maintaining a stance against any involvement with detaining or punishing offenders. Fourth, they did not approve of attending weddings, which had become worldly in their view. Its final criticism was aimed at sermons and eulogies at funerals, practices that had recently been adopted from Catholics and Lutherans.
In 1860 a portion of this group migrated to Crimea under the leadership of Jakob Wiebe. This group adopted baptism by immersion. After migrating in 1874 to Kansas, they became known as the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren.
In 1870 the Russian government issued a proclamation stating the intention to end all special privileges granted to German colonists by 1880. Alarmed at the possibility of losing control of their schools and military exemption, a delegation of Mennonite and Hutterite leaders, including Cornelius Toews and David Claassen of the Kleine Gemeinde, visited North America in 1873 to investigate resettlement possibilities. In 1874, the main group proceeded to migrate to North America, settling in Manitoba, Canada, and near Jansen, Nebraska in Jefferson County, USA.
The Jansen group moved to Kansas and eventually seceded from the Kleine Gemeinde. Later, a number of the Kleine Gemeinde went into the movement of Elder John Holdeman (Church of God in Christ, Mennonite). In 1952, the Kleine Gemeinde changed its name to the Evangelical Mennonite Church, and then (because of a U.S. group of prior, same name) to the Evangelical Mennonite Conference in 1959.
The EMC now reflects a growing diversity of its members, adherents, and leaders in their church and cultural backgrounds. Since the 1940s it has moved consciously beyond its historic Dutch-German-Russian cultural roots and has expanded into many other cultural groups. Recently it has developed Hispanic congregations. Worship services are conducted in various languages, with English being most common. It also has ministries in about two dozen countries.
The denomination is planning to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2012 at its annual convention, which is scheduled to be held in southern Manitoba.
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