“As we neared the large village of Neuendorf, our hearts grew very heavy. The coach driver tried to comfort me by reminding me that he would return at Christmastime to take us home for the holidays. When the tall chimneys of the mills and factories of Khortitsa came in sight, we smoothed our dresses and touched our hair. Soon the village itself became visible, especially the large sunlit cross on the Russian Orthodox church.”

These words of Kaethe Isaac Zacharias Epp, on her way to Khortitsa’s Maedchenschule, confirmed that by the early twentieth century, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, depicted on the cover of this issue, had come to define the skyline of this historic Mennonite town. In many ways, the construction of this church encapsulates the theme of neighbourly relations, as Orthodox workers and Mennonites found themselves having to negotiate shared space.

Khortitsa was not alone in its transformation from an ethnically and religiously homogeneous village into a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional industrial town. Halbstadt experienced a similar reinvention during this period with the employment of hundreds of Slavic workers in its businesses. In both cases, the local Orthodox leadership expressed concerns about this development, arguing that living among Mennonites endangered the spiritual life of its flock. Not only might these Orthodox workers adopt the spartan Mennonite religious calendar, neglecting the many occasions for spiritual reflection at the core of the Orthodox tradition, but they also might adopt German cultural and linguistic attributes. To these Orthodox leaders, it hardly mattered whether “old” Mennonites, as opposed to the more evangelically minded “new” Mennonites (Mennonite Brethren), owned the factories; the absence of religious supervision over these Orthodox workers could not continue.

Mennonite industrial leaders took these concerns of the Orthodox clergy seriously. In Khortitsa, Mennonites offered to pay the teaching salary of the priest and helped to fund the building of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church. In Halbstadt, Mennonite leaders donated land for the building of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, conveniently located down the street from a dormitory for Slavic workers. The bishop of Taurida diocese, Martinian (Muratovskii), travelled to Halbstadt to consecrate this new church. Mennonites greeted the bishop by presenting him with the traditional Slavic welcome of bread and salt. During this exchange, Mennonite leaders tried to reassure Bishop Martinian of their pure intentions by emphasizing their loyalty to Russia, their limited contact with Germany, and their desire to live peacefully with their Orthodox neighbours.

The bishop demonstrated his receptiveness to Mennonite overtures by spending time with the community. Not only did Bishop Martinian visit Mennonite factories; he also accepted invitations to see a Mennonite school and attend a service at the local Mennonite church. At the church, the bishop listened to Mennonites sing hymns in German and Russian, including “God save the Tsar,” after which a Mennonite minister gave a sermon in German. The bishop expressed appreciation for this welcome; however, he reminded them “not to interfere” in the religious life of the local workers.

These exchanges could be interpreted as mere formalities. During the entire event, however, both sides showed a willingness to cross cultural and religious boundaries, albeit briefly, to show support for courteous relations between the groups. For instance, at the evening event in which the bishop consecrated the new Orthodox church, a number of Mennonites joined the large crowd of Orthodox believers to witness the ceremony. According to an Orthodox priest, Mennonites demonstrated their respect for this sacred event by standing for the four-hour service.

In Khortitsa, Mennonites considered the ringing of the Orthodox bells as adding colour to their traditionally austere Sunday mornings and religious holidays. And when a long-time Russian school custodian passed away, Mennonite students and teachers attended the Orthodox funeral service in the church. The presence of this church also offered Mennonites a chance to learn more about Orthodoxy. Although rare, the conversion of Mennonites did occur. In 1896, the priest of St. Nicholas baptized twenty-two-year-old Maria Grunau, a native of Burwalde, into the faith.

Ultimately, the presence of these churches in Khortitsa and Halbstadt could not hide the economic disparity that would begin to define relations between the Mennonite and Orthodox populations. These towns maintained an embedded social and economic hierarchy that placed Mennonites above Ukrainians and Russians. Maps of both towns reveal the limited spaces occupied by Slavic workers, who lived primarily in barracks connected to Mennonite factories. While Mennonites grew to appreciate the decorative qualities of other ethnicities in their towns, economic power remained firmly in their hands.