Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation

A year ago we were all saddened when Delbert Plett
died. He had filled a large role in researching the history
of conservative Mennonites, and advocating that
they be given respect and recognition. Would this work
continue?
A number of years ago, Delbert established the D.F.
Plett Historical Research Foundation, Inc., and named
its first members. He willed the bulk of his estate to this
Foundation, and gave it the mandate to continue his life
work. Since Delbert had been providing the resources
to publish the Preservings, the Flemish Mennonite Historical
Society offered to transfer responsibility for the
journal to the Foundation. The Foundation appointed
Leonard Doell from Aberdeen, Saskatchewan, and me,
to co-edit the Preservings.
In the last months of his life Delbert planned much
the content of the 2005 issue, and so it fell to us to bring
the issue to completion. The Foundation plans to continue
publishing the Preservings. We as editors are working
on the subsequent issues.
This issue includes tributes to Delbert Plett. Most
were written at the occasion of his funeral, and reflect
the emotion and sense of loss at that event. After an introduction
to the mission and goals of the Plett Foundation,
a number of articles by Delbert Plett are included.
Written during the final months of his life, they express
in his straightforward, bold, and sometimes sharp style,
some of the main themes and concerns that consumed
his life. As such they function like editorials in which he
provides admonition and advice to people about whom
he cared deeply.
The feature articles reflect Delbert’s growing interest
in recent years to examine the historical background
to the present conservative Mennonite communities.
The articles are divided into two categories: those dealing
with Mennonite life in the Netherlands, and those
focusing on Poland and Prussia. Both areas have been
largely unknown within Mennonite circles in North
America. Even less is known of the role and contribution
of conservative Mennonites in those regions, since most
histories have focused on the more liberal leaders and
groups. These very fine articles provide a long-overdue
corrective to this neglected history.
The biographies, as usual, provide unique and personal
windows into the larger Mennonite story. A second
set of articles are designed to present issues from
new perspectives.
After a few items about news, material culture, and
book reviews, the issue concludes with a tribute to Adina
Reger. Delbert and Adina cooperated in the compiling
of Diese Steine, a book about Russian Mennonite history.
Considered by Delbert as his most important publication,
he distributed almost 10,000 copies in Europe
and Latin America, most of them free of charge. It is
ironic, and sad, that Adina died almost exactly a year
after Delbert’s death.
Preparing this issue has been a real privilege. I have
been impressed again with the monumental amount of
work that Delbert Plett did in preparing the Preservings,
and the other publications he produced. I have also come
to appreciative even more his methodology. Delbert’s
aim was not only to inform, it was to change minds - or
to use a contemporary expression - to effect paradigm
shifts. He believed passionately that Mennonites have a
rich heritage, and strove mightily to have people catch
that vision.
— John J. Friesen, co-editor
Preservings 2005 - Table of Contents
John J. Friesen, Leonard Doell, co-editors
Editorial/Forward
John J. Friesen .................................................................................................................................4
Tributes to Delbert Plett
Obituary – by the family...................................................................................................................5
Royden Loewen ...............................................................................................................................5
Abe Rempel .....................................................................................................................................8
John J. Friesen .................................................................................................................................9
Henry Schapansky ...........................................................................................................................9
D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation
Mission statement ..........................................................................................................................11
Research areas and themes ............................................................................................................11
Delbert F. Plett’s Final Words ....................................................................................................12
Feature Articles: Mennonites in the Netherlands and Poland/Prussia
Seventeenth Century Dutch Mennonite Prayer Books - Piet Visser...............................................21
Affirming the old Fundamentals – A Survey of the Danzig Old-Flemish Congregations in the
Netherlands - Willem Stuve ...........................................................................................................29
Saved from Oblivion: A Portrait of the (Danzig) Old-Flemish Elders in the Netherlands
- Willem Stuve ..............................................................................................................................36
Dirk Philips: Early Leader of Dutch Anabaptists - William Keeney (reprinted with permission) .......40
Connected by Seas, Windmills and Faith - Peter J. Klassen Four Centuries of Prussian ..............43
Mennonites - Bruno Ewert (reprinted with permission).................................................................48
George Hansen 1636-1703 - Harvey G. Plett, (reprinted with permission) ..................................52
Maritime Trade and Shipbuilding in Danzig - (reprinted with permission) Translated by Reuben
Epp .................................................................................................................................................55
Mennonite Artists in Danzig and Koenigsberg - Kurt Kauenhoven (reprinted with permission) ........ 58
Biographies
Aeltester Martin C. Friesen, by John Dyck ................................................................................... 61
Acceptance Sermon by Aeltester Jacob F. Isaac, by Peter R. Dueck ............................................ 63
Peter Neufeld of Neukirch , by Henry Schapansky........................................................................67
Joseph Nowitsky, by Tim Janzen....................................................................................................68
Abram Schroeder, by Ray Schroeder.............................................................................................70
Siberian Diary: Aron P. Toews, by Olga Rempel .......................................................................... 73
Cornelius T. “Rawleigh” Toews, by Jim Doerksen .......................................................................81
Articles
Borosenko-A Traditional Mennonite Home, by Adina Reger and Delbert Plett............................83
Critic and Community: John Howard Yoder, by Steven Nolt ........................................................88
The Missional Church, by Titus Guenther ....................................................................................90
News – Recent Developments
Mennonite Conference in Steegen, by Peter J. Voth.......................................................................91
Tim Allen “Tool Time,” by Delbert Plett........................................................................................91
Material Culture
The Klass Reimer Bible, by Henry Fast.........................................................................................92
Brommtopp ....................................................................................................................................93
Letter to the Editor.......................................................................................................................93
Book Reviews
Adolf Ens, Becoming a National Church. A History of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada.
Reviewed by John Peters ...............................................................................................................94
George K. Epp, Geschichte der Mennoniten, 3 vols. Reviewed by Henry Schapansky ................ 94
Rudy P. Friesen with Edith Elisabeth Friesen, Building on the Past: Mennonite Architecture and
Settlements in Russia/Ukraine. Reviewed by Adolf Ens ...............................................................95
Peter P. Klassen, The Mennonites in Paraguay. Reviewed by Abraham Friesen ..........................96
Doreen Reimer Peters, One Who Dared. Reviewed by Ralph Friesen .......................................... 97
James Urry, Nur Heilige-Mennoniten in Russland 1789-1889, Reviewed by Harry Loewen ....... 98
List of Authors and Addresses.....................................................................................................98
Tribute – Adina Reger..................................................................................................................99
Preservings, a journal of the D.F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, Inc., is published annually. Co-editors are John J. Friesen, 1.204.487.3300, jjfriesen@cmu.ca, and Leonard Doell,
1.306.665.2555, ldoell@mccs.org. The annual subscription fee is $20.00, and should be made out to the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation, and mailed to Box 1960, Steinbach,
Manitoba, R5G IN5. Reader responses, critical or otherwise, are welcome. Please send manuscripts, articles, and/or photographs to 500 Shaftesbury, Blvd., Winnipeg, MB, R3P 2N2. Our
mission is to inform our readers about Mennonite history, and in particular to promote a respectful understanding and appreciation of the contribution made by the so-called conservatives.
Copyright remains with the writers and artists.
- Preservings No. 25, December 2005