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Volhynian Baptist pastors

The first Baptist church in Volhynia was set up in Hortschtschik in 1864. That was followed by Sorotchin later that year.
Other church openings included Neudorf (1866), Cholosno (1875), Toporischtsch (1878), Moisejewka (1883), Nowo-Rudnja (1884), Iwanowitsch (1885), Stawetskaja-Sloboda (1898) and Rutkowsky-Chutor. (These dates are from the 1906 report of Baptist activity in Volhynia.)
By 1914, Volhynia had about 40,000 to 50,000 Baptists, served by about a dozen churches.

Click here for information on In The Midst of Wolves, the book on German Baptists in Volhynia. If you're in the United States, contact Don Miller for a copy.

 

Baier, Ch.

Bandsmer
Served in Moisejewka

Baumbach, Heinrich
Served in Sorotschin

Bonikowsky, Emil (married to Maria Zuzman)
Born 24 May 1881 in Poltanice, Poland. Served in Hortschtschik 1920-1923, Novo-Rudnya 1923-26. To Canada in 1926, served in Saskatchewan. Died 20 Oct 1967 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, buried in Kelowna, B.C. Wife Maria was born 28 Feb 1890 in Poland, and died 18 Aug 1959 in Kelowna.

Brandt, Peter
From Germany; Brandt's sons were Baptist ministers in Germany later. In Iwanowitsch at least 1905-1907. Jailed in Russia during the First World War.

Braier, L.

Fritz
Served in Cholosno

Fuchs

Goetze, Bernard
Born Pabjanice, Poland 6 Apr 1888. Ordained in Iwanowitsch 28 Aug 1909. Served in Neudorf 1909-1910, Iwanowitsch/Pulin 1910-1915. In Russian jail 1915-1918. Goetze translated the Bible into Russian. He moved to Canada in 1952, and died in Kitchener, Ont., on 7 Jan 1962.

Hornbacher, Eduard
Wrote book Baptist Church in Russia -- went to NAB seminary in Sioux Falls, S.D., then Edmonton in 1968 or 1969, then returned to Germany, where he died.

Jacksteit, Robert Julius (married to Bertha Klingsporn)
Robert was born in Ostpreussen in 1869, the son of Rudolf Jacksteit and Amalie Dehring. The family moved to Volhynia when he was 10. He was baptised by Braier in Neudorf when he was 15. Served for 12 years in Rosysce (?) before being sent to Siberia in 1914; after the war, served two years in Bishofswerder and Stalluponen, Ostpreussen before coming to America. After some time in Rochester, New York, the family settled in Minitonas, Manitoba, Canada.

Lehmann, S.

Mantler, E.
Served in Hortschtschik

Mohr, Eugen William
Born 11 Jun 1868 in Ostpreussen. Baptized in Hortschtschik in 1885 by S. Lehmann. Ordained in Neudorf in 1897 by Lehmann. Served Neudorf 1897-1907. Russians jailed him in First World War, and he died in Samara in 1917.

Ondra, Karl
The Baptist pioneer in Volhynia, Ondra started the church in Neudorf, which grew to become the largest Baptist congregation in Volhynia.

Schmidgall, Wilhelm
Baptist pastor in Neudorf from about 1925-26 to spring 1934, when the last sermon was allowed. He immediately fled the area, and soon after his family was moved to the Don area. He surfaced there, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He died after two years.

Tiedtke, August (married to Wilhelmine Boehnert)
Founded the church in Iwanowitsch in 1885, and served there until his death in 1897.

Wenske, Artur
Born 22 Apr 1887 in Lodz, Poland. Served in Iwanowitsch 1920-1923. Died 30 Dec 1944 in Lodz.

Wessell, Johannes
Served in Sorotchin

Wuerch, Eduard (married to Mathilde Wittermann)
Baptist pastor until 1925. Born Gnadenthal in 1868, the son of Andrew Wuerch, and died in Vancouver, Canada on 26 Jun 1941. His wife Mathilde was born 16 February 1881, the daughter of Friedrich Wittermann, and died in Vancouver 19 March 1944.
Eduard was educated at the Rochester Theological Seminary in New York from 1894-1899. His first church was Moisejewka, then Neudorf in 1909, then Cholosno from 1925 to 1928. In fall, 1928 he went to Canada, and had Ebenezer West church in Springside, Saskatchewan, then one in Fenwood, Saskatchewan.

Wuerch, Reinhold
Reinhold, who served in Radomysl, was a nephew of Eduard. He was also a graduate of the Rochester Baptist Seminary in New York State.
 

Click here for information on In The Midst of Wolves, the book on German Baptists in Volhynia. If you're in the United States, contact Don Miller for a copy. . 



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