Nikolaifeld (Nikolaipol) Mennonite Church was located in the Yazekovo Mennonite settlement of Ukraine, 15 miles (25 km) north of Chortitza in South Russia. The congregation was established in 1869. Originally it was a subsidiary of the Chortitza Mennonite Church. Early ministers were Peter Penner (ordained 1865), Isaak Klassen (1871), Anton Lowen (1871, leading minister), Martin Dyck (1876), Heinrich Rempel (1876), Heinrich Siemens (1880), Heinrich Loewen (1885), Jacob Siemens (1888), Cornelius Lehn (1888), Aaron Klassen (1905), Klaas Quiring (1908), Peter Schulz (1908).
The church was located in the village of Nikolaifeld (Nikolaipol). In 1905 the total population of the church was 1,046, of whom some 240 were members. The church contributions during that year amounted to 1,345 rubles. In 1928 the total population was 1,009, with 472 members. In these 25 years the congregation had indeed grown, but the surplus population had gone to daughter settlements and particularly to Canada. Of the total population, 58 had a Zentralschule education, 10 a normal training, four a secondary training, and two university training. Heinrich D. Epp, a teacher of the local Zentralschule and minister of the church, was ordained elder in 1920. At that time the church became independent. He was assisted by five ministers and three deacons, most of whom had a secondary education and had been teaching. On 12 November 1926 the congregation observed the fortieth anniversary of the ministry of Heinrich D. Epp, for which occasion the elders Isaak Dyck, Johann Martens, Peter Neufeld, and others came. In 1935 the church was confiscated and Heinrich D. Epp left the community.
During the war the members of the church were scattered. At the time of the German occupation of the Ukraine (1941-1943) the congregation had meetinghouses in the villages of Nikolaifeld, Adelsheim,and Hochfeld. Each village had a choir. Information about the religious life and the hardships of the congregations under the Soviets is not available. (See also Yazekovo Mennonite settlement, and the respective villages.) Some of the members in meanwhile found their way to Canada and South America .
Dirks, Heinrich. Statistik der Mennonitengemeinden in Russland Ende 1905 (Anhang zum Mennonitischen Jahrbuche 1904/05). Gnadenfeld: Dirks, 1905: 61.
Friesen, Peter M. Die Alt-Evangelische Mennonitische Brüderschaft in Russland (1789-1910) im Rahmen der mennonitischen Gesamtgeschichte. Halbstadt: Verlagsgesellschaft "Raduga,” 1911: 70.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 254.
Stumpp, Karl. Bericht über das Gebiet Chortitza: im Generalbezirk Dnjepropetrowsk. Berlin: Publikationsstelle Ost, 1943.
Unser Blatt II (April 1927): 206.
Cite This Article
Krahn, Cornelius. "Nikolaifeld Mennonite Church (Yazykovo Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 2 Aug 2014. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nikolaifeld_Mennonite_Church_(Yazykovo_Mennonite_Settlement,_Zaporizhia_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=93105.
Krahn, Cornelius. (1957). Nikolaifeld Mennonite Church (Yazykovo Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2 August 2014, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nikolaifeld_Mennonite_Church_(Yazykovo_Mennonite_Settlement,_Zaporizhia_Oblast,_Ukraine)&oldid=93105.
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