Klaas Reimer (1770–1837) was the founder of the
Kleine Gemeinde Kleine Gemeinde is a Mennonite denomination founded in 1812 by Klaas Reimer in the Russian Empire. The current group primarily consists of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites in Belize, Mexico and Bolivia, as well as a small presence in Canad ...
, a
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
denomination that still exists in Latin America, but underwent radical changes in Canada where it is now called the
Evangelical Mennonite Conference
The Evangelical Mennonite Conference is a conference of Canadian evangelical Mennonite Christians headquartered in Steinbach, Manitoba, with 62 churches from British Columbia to southern Ontario. It includes people with a wide range of cultural ...
.
Ethnic Mennonite
The term ethnic Mennonite refers to Mennonites of Central European ancestry and culture who are considered to be members of a Mennonite ethnic or ethnoreligious group. The term is also used for aspects of their culture, such as language, dress, and ...
remigrants from Latin America brought the original Kleine Gemeinde back to Canada and the US.
Biography
Reimer was born in 1770 to Heinrich Reimer and Agatha Epp (b. 1745) in the
Vistula delta Mennonite settlement of
Petershagen, Prussia, located about 35 km east of the city of
Danzig (Gdańsk). Heinrich died while his son was still young; his mother later remarried Abraham Janzen (1747–1822), a wealthy farmer. During his childhood, Reimer received no formal education.
At age twenty, Klaas was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
and accepted into the Danzig Mennonite fellowship. In 1792, he moved to Neuenhuben, a village just east of Danzig, where he joined a newly established ''Werder Gemeinde'', a Mennonite splinter church.
Six years later, at the age of 28, Klaas married Maria Epp (1760–1806), who was ten years his senior. Maria was the daughter of Peter Epp, a highly influential Mennonite church leader. Maria died in 1806 at age 46. Klaas and Maria had only one child, Aganetha, who was born in 1801, who later dies an early death in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. About three months after his first wife died, Reimer remarried to Helena von Riesen (1787–1846), together they had ten children, of which three sons and two daughters survived to adulthood.
Reimer was ordained into the ministry in 1801. In 1804, he led a group of about 30 adults in an immigration to south Russia, settling in the newly opened Mennonite colony,
Molotschna
Molotschna Colony or Molochna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today, the central village, known as Molochansk, has a population less than 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna Ri ...
, in the spring of 1805. Here, Reimer was frequently in conflict with the elder of the colony, Jacob Enns, who attempted to have the local authorities silence him. Reimer appealed to
Chortitza
Chortitza Colony was a volost Yekaterinoslav Governorate granted to Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonite for colonization northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Mennonite set ...
elder Johann Wiebe, only to be threatened by Wiebe with banishment if he did not stop his activities.
[Smith p. 275.] The struggle finally came to a head in 1812, when Reimer and eighteen of his followers began to hold their own church meetings in private homes. Seen as a secession by the Molotschna leadership, Reimer was threatened with dire punishment, including exile to Siberia. Reimer was joined by another minister, Cornelius Janzen, and about 20 members, who together recognized themselves as a separate church body in 1814. Similar groups in several villages seceded at the same time. These later united to form the
Kleine Gemeinde Kleine Gemeinde is a Mennonite denomination founded in 1812 by Klaas Reimer in the Russian Empire. The current group primarily consists of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites in Belize, Mexico and Bolivia, as well as a small presence in Canad ...
, which was recognized by the Russian government and granted the same rights and privileges of the main Mennonite group.
The hostility against Reimer and his fellowship toned down somewhat a few years later, when Elder Enns died.
Reimer's challenges were not limited to the main Mennonite body from which they separated. He also faced difficult challenges within his own fellowship. A crisis that has been called the false-humility movement almost destroyed the Kleine Gemeinde in 1828–29 and for a time threatened his leadership. A faction within the church apparently dwelt on guilt and fear and attempted a daily routine of extreme asceticism and self-inflicted punishment. When Reimer strongly admonished this faction in a sermon, many in the congregation walked out in disapproval. At a special meeting, his leadership was challenged and barely survived a vote of confidence. Over time, the movement subsided and Reimer regained control of the fellowship.
On December 18, 1837 Klaas Reimer died in Lindenau, Molotschna, South Russia at the age of 67 years.
Legacy
Reimer remains a controversial figure in Mennonite history. One of Reimer's prominent critics was Mennonite historian Peter M. Friesen (1849–1914) who wrote that Reimer was "devoid of any joyous knowledge of God's grace" and that his movement "was too narrow-minded, too frightened, too isolationist and opposed to education, it never made a profound impact."
Delbert Plett, an outspoken advocate of Reimer, writes that "Klaas Reimer was a conservative intellectual whose voice speaks with singular clarity over the centuries."
Reimer's autobiography, penned in 1836, has been translated into English and published in the book ''Leaders'' by Mennonite historian
Delbert Plett.
Notes
References
* Plett, Delbert ed., ''Leaders of the Mennonite Kleine Gemeinde In Russia, 1812 to 1874'', Steinbach, Manitoba, 1993, pp. 113–147.
* Plett, Delbert, Saints and Sinners: The Kleine Gemeinde in Imperial Russia 1812 to 1875, Steinbach, Manitoba, 1999.
* Friesen, Peter M.,
The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (1789–1910)', trans. into English, revised edition, Fresno, California, 1980.
*
External links
at
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reimer, Klaas
1770 births
1837 deaths
Kleine Gemeinde
People from Bartoszyce County
Prussian Mennonites
Mennonite ministers
19th-century Anabaptist ministers
Russian Mennonites
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Vistula delta Mennonites