Moravian Church

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This page is about the Moravian Church globally. For information about the church in a particular geographic area, use the links at Organisation below.
The Moravian Seal, as rendered by North Carolina artist Marie Nifong.
The Moravian Seal, as rendered by North Carolina artist Marie Nifong.

The Moravian Church or Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine is a mainline Protestant denomination. Its religious heritage began in Kunvald late 14th century Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). Its official name is Unitas Fratrum[1] meaning Unity of the Brethren (not to be confused with the small Unity of the Brethren church based in Texas). It is also occasionally referred to as the Bohemian Brethren. It places a high premium on Christian unity, personal piety, missions and music.

The church's emblem is the Lamb of God with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription: Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur; or in English: Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow him.

Contents

[edit] Origins

Main article: History of the Moravian Church

[edit] Early history

The movement that became the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus (English: John Huss) in the late 14th century. Hus objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to return the church in Bohemia and Moravia to what he believed were the simpler practices of early Christianity: liturgy in the language of the people (i.e. Czech), having lay people receive communion in both kinds (bread and wine), and eliminating indulgences and the idea of purgatory.

The movement gained royal support and a certain independence for a while, but was eventually forced to be subject to the authority of Rome. Hus was tried by the Council of Constance and burned at the stake (1415).

Within fifty years of Hus's death, a contingent of his followers had become independently organized as the "Bohemian Brethren" (Čeští bratři) or Unity of the Brethren (Jednota bratrská), which was founded in Kunvald, Bohemia, in 1457. These were the earliest Protestants, rebelling against Rome more than a hundred years before Martin Luther.

After 1620, due to the Counter Reformation and the Thirty-Years War (1618–1648), and after being abandoned and betrayed by the local nobility which had previously tolerated or supported them, the Brethren were forced to operate underground and eventually dispersed across Northern Europe and as far as the Low Countries, where bishop John Amos Comenius attempted to direct a resurgence.

The largest remaining communities of the Brethren were located in Leszno (German: Lissa) in Poland, which had historically strong ties with the Czechs, and in small, isolated groups in Moravia.

[edit] Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, 18th century renewal

Zinzendorf preaching to people from many nations
Zinzendorf preaching to people from many nations

In 1722, a small group of Bohemian Brethren who had been living as an underground remnant in Moravia for nearly 100 years arrived at the Berthelsdorf estate of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a nobleman who had been brought up in the traditions of Pietism. Out of a personal commitment to helping the poor and needy, he agreed to a request from their leader (Christian David, an itinerant carpenter) that they be allowed to settle on his lands in the Oberlausitz (Eng: "Upper Lusatia") in present day Saxony in the east of modern-day Germany.

The refugees established a new village called Herrnhut, about 2 miles (3 km) from Berthelsdorf. The town initially grew steadily, but major religious disagreements emerged and by 1727 the community was divided into warring factions. Count Zinzendorf worked to bring about unity in the town and the Brotherly Agreement was adopted by the community on 12 May 1727. This is considered the beginning of the renewal. Then, on 13 August 1727 the community underwent a dramatic transformation when the inhabitants of Herrnhut "Learned to love one another," following an experience which they attributed to a visitation of the Holy Spirit, similar to that recorded in the Bible on the day of Pentecost.

Herrnhut grew rapidly following this transforming revival and became the centre of a major movement for Christian renewal and mission during the 18th century. Moravian historians identify the main achievements of this period as:

  1. Setting up a watch of continuous prayer which ran uninterrupted, 24 hours a day, for 100 years.
  2. The origination of the Daily Watchwords
  3. The establishment of over 30 settlements globally on the Herrnhut model, which emphasised a lifestyle of prayer and worship and a form of communal living in which personal property was still held but simplicity of lifestyle and generosity with wealth were considered important spiritual attributes. As a result, divisions between social groups and extremes of wealth and poverty were largely eliminated.
  4. The start of missionary work (see next section).
  5. The formation of many hundreds of small renewal groups operating within the existing churches of Europe, known as "diaspora societies". These groups encouraged personal prayer and worship, bible study, confession of sins and mutual accountability.

[edit] Missions

The Moravian missionaries were the first large scale Protestant missionary movement. The first missionaries were sent out when there were only 300 inhabitants in Herrnhut.Within 30 years of their beginning the church sent hundreds of Christian missionaries to many parts of the world including the Caribbean, North and South America, the Arctic, Africa, and the Far East. They were also the first to send unordained "lay" people (rather than trained professional clergymen), the first Protestant denomination to go to slaves, and the first in many countries of the world.

The first Moravian missionaries were a potter named Leonard Dober and a carpenter named David Nitschmann, who went to the Caribbean island of St Thomas in 1732. Nitschmann, a descendant of the Ancient Unity, became the first bishop of the Renewed Unity in 1735.

The start of far-flung missionary work necessitated the setting up of independently administered Provinces. So from c1750,[citation needed] the history of the church becomes the history of its Provinces. Articles about some of these (and their history) are linked from Organisation below.

Former mission fields where there is no longer any work include Australia and Greenland.

[edit] The present

Moravian Church
Moravian Church

The modern Unitas Fratrum or Moravian Church, with about 825,000 members worldwide, continues to draw on traditions established during the 18th century renewal. In many places it observes the convention of the lovefeast, originally started in 1727, and sometimes continues to use older and traditional music in worship. In addition, in some older congregations, Moravians are buried in a traditional God's Acre, a graveyard organized by gender, age, and marital status rather than family.

The Moravians continue their long tradition of missionary work, for example in the Caribbean. This is reflected in their broad global distribution. The Moravians in Germany, whose central settlement remains at Herrnhut, are highly active in education and social work. The American Moravian Church sponsors Moravian College and Seminary. The largest concentration of Moravians today is in Tanzania.

The motto of the Moravian church is:

(Latin) In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas
(English) "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, love"

[edit] Organization

[edit] Provinces

The church has work around the globe and so is organised into provinces, each responsible for a particular geographic area:

  • Alaska
  • America (North): Canada and the Northern States of the USA
  • America (South): Southern States of the USA
  • British: England and Northern Ireland, with a small society in Dublin
  • Congo[2]
  • Costa Rica[3]
  • Czech Republic
  • Eastern West Indies: Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, and the Virgin Islands including St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas and Tortola.
  • European Continental: Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland
  • Guyana[3]
  • Honduras
  • Jamaica
  • Labrador[3]
  • Nicaragua
  • South Africa
  • Suriname
  • Tanzania (Rukwa)
  • Tanzania (Southern)
  • Tanzania (South Western)
  • Tanzania (Western)
  • Zambia[2]



Other areas where work is going on, but which are not yet established as Provinces are:

  • Star Mountain Rehabilitation Centre, Ramallah, Palestine - under the care of the European Continental Province. Work began among people with leprosy in 1867 at the 'Jesus Hilfe' home in Jerusalem, responsibility for which was taken over by the Israeli State. In 1980, the former Leper Home on Star Mountain was converted for use as a home for handicapped children of the Arab population.[4]
  • South Asia (India, Ladakh, Nepal, Assam) - under the care of the British Province. Formerly the West Himalayan Province (1853) and designated a Unity Undertaking in 1967.[4]
  • Eastern Tanzania and Zanzibar, and Malawi - under the care of the Tanzania South Province.
  • Northern Tanzania - under the care of the Tanzania South West Province.

There also seems to be some work beginning in Peru[citation needed].

Tanzania is divided into 5 provinces because of size of country and the numbers of people in the church. There is an attempt to co-ordinate the work in Tanzania in various ways through "The Moravian Church in Tanzania".

The lists above, except for some details given under 'Other areas' can be found in the Moravian Almanac.[4]

Each Province is governed by a Synod, made up of representatives from each congregations plus ex officio members.

The Synod elects the Provincial Board (aka Provincial Elders' Conference or PEC[5]) to be responsible for the work of the Province and its international links between Synods.

[edit] Districts

Many of the Provinces are divided into Districts (probably this is not the case everywhere).

District Conferences need a mention.

[edit] Congregations

Each Congregation belongs to a District and has spiritual and financial responsibilities for work in its own area and provincially. The Congregation Council (all the members of a congregation) meets usually twice a year and annually elects the Church Committee which acts as an executive.

In some Provinces two or more congregations may be grouped together into circuits, under the care of one minister.

[edit] Unity Synod and Board

The Unity Synod meets every 7 years and is attended by...

The Unity Board is made up of one member from each Provincial Board, and acts as an executive committee between Unity Synods. It meets 3 times between Synods but much of its work is done by correspondence and postal voting.

There is no "Head Office". The President of the Unity Board (who is elected by the Board for 2 years and not allowed to serve for more than two terms) works from his/her own Provincial office.

[edit] Beliefs

In her Book of Order[6][7] the Moravian Unity accepts:

According to the Ground of the Unity[6][7] of 1957, fundamental beliefs include but are not limited to:

  • The Holy Trinity
  • The Fatherhood of God
  • God's Love for fallen humanity
  • The Incarnation of God in the God/Man Jesus Christ
  • Jesus's sacrificial death for the sinful rebellion of humanity
  • His Resurrection, Ascension and Exaltation to the Right Hand of the Father
  • His sending of the Holy Spirit to strengthen, sustain and empower Believers
  • His eventual return in majesty to judge the Living and the Dead
  • Of His Kingdom there shall be no end
  • There is one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
  • Infants are baptized
  • Without defining the mode or method, the "How", Moravians believe that they receive the true Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Communion. This is most clearly seen in Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg's Idea Fidei Fratrum, and in the Easter Morning Litany.

These tenets of classical Christianity are not unique to the Moravian Church. The Moravian Church has never sought to "invent" doctrines. The emphasis in both the Ancient Unity as well as in the Renewed Unity has been on Christian Living and the Fellowship of Believers as witness to a living Christian Faith.

[edit] Worship

  • Hymn Books
  • Liturgy
  • the Sacrament of the Holy Communion
  • The Sacrament of Baptism, Infants and Adults
  • Marriage
  • Confirmation
  • Christian Burial
  • Ordination Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons
  • Consecration of church buildings and facilities

[edit] Traditions

[edit] Former traditions

  • Settlements (Either under a separate heading or in a main article, list all worldwide & describe usual range of constituent buildings, etc.)
  • the drawing of "lots" in decision making
  • Single Brethren's and Single Sisters' Houses: In the old original Settlement Congregations of Europe, Britain and the US, there were separate Houses caring for the spiritual and also temporal welfare of the Choirs of Single Brethren, Single Sisters, Widows.[8]
  • Wide/Short layout of church interiors
  • Separate seating of sexes in churches
  • Mission ships (the Harmony & the Snow Irene)
  • Choirs (age/sex): The word 'Choir' has been used in the Moravian tradition since the eighteenth century to indicate a group of congregation members classified according to age and sex. Formerly there were in several congregations separate Houses caring for the spiritual and also temporal welfare of the Choirs of Single Brethren, Single Sisters, Widows.[8]

[edit] Uniformed and other organizations

  • Boys Brigade / Scouts
  • Girls Brigade / Guides / Upward & Onward
  • Women's Fellowship
  • Men's Fellowship
  • Sunday School
  • Young People's Missionary Association (YPMA)

[edit] Prominent Moravians from c1400 to c1750

[edit] Ecumenical relations

See also: Full communion

The Moravian Church provinces are members individually of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation. Most provinces are also members of their national councils of churches, such as the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) in Germany and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the US. The American Southern Province was instrumental in the founding the North Carolina Council of Churches. The British Province is in the British council of churches and has an interim Communion agreement with the Church of England. The two North American provinces are in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and are in dialogue with the Episcopal Church in the United States about entering full communion with them as well.

An interesting aspect of Moravian history and work is the so-called "Diaspora" work in Germany and Eastern Europe, seeking to deepen and encourage the Christian life among members of the territorial churches, particularly in Poland and the Baltic, but also throughout the German lands. Count Zinzendorf's ideal was a fellowship of all Christians, regardless of denominational names and the Moravian Brethren sought in the Diaspora not to convert people to the Moravian Church but to awaken the hearts of believers and make them better members of the churches to which they already belonged. At first the objects of a great deal of suspicion, in the course of time the Moravian Diaspora Workers eventually became valued co-workers in the vast expanse of eastern Europe. The Diaspora Work in eastern Europe suffered almost total destruction in World War II, but is still carried on within the territorial churches of Germany. With the independence of the Baltic republics, Estonia and Latvia, it was revealed that much of the Diaspora Work there had been kept alive in spite of Soviet Russian domination and had born fruit.

[edit] Historical societies, etc.

  • American North: the Moravian Historical Society and Historic Bethlehem (Pennsylvania)
  • American South: the Wachovia Historical Society as well as Old Salem
  • British: Defunct.
  • Continental Province Verein für Geschichts- und Gegenwartsfragen der Brüdergemeine

[edit] Publications

  • der Brüderbote, the periodical of the Continental Province
  • Unitas Fratrum, the publication of the Continental Province's historical society
  • the Moravian Magazine, the publication of the North American Provinces
  • the Moravian Messenger, periodical of the British Province
  • Moravian History Magazine - Published within the British Province but deals with the work worldwide.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.unitasfratrum.org/
  2. ^ a b Congo and Zambia were added at a Unity Board meeting in May 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Affiliated Province - not a voting member of the Unity Board.
  4. ^ a b c The Moravian Almanac is published annually (October) as a supplement to the devotional book 'Daily Watchwords'. Most Provinces publish their own almanac with details of local congregations and the wider Provinces. Copies may be obtained from the Moravian Church House (office) of any province (for addresses see the provinces pages).
  5. ^ In Moravian usage, Elder is a title applicable to the members of any church board (conference) whether at provincial or congregational level. The term is not relative to age, but to responsible people who, commanding the respect of their fellow members, have been elected, at provincial level by the Synod, and at local level by the Congregation Council. A Board of Elders always acts collegially, not individually[7].
  6. ^ a b Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum, published by order of the Unity Synod.
  7. ^ a b The Ground of the Unity
  8. ^ a b Book of Order, The Moravian Church in Great Britain and Ireland, 2002.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Fries, Adelaide Records of the Moravians in North Carolina (1917).
  • Gollin, Gilliam Lindt. Moravians in Two Worlds (1967)
  • Langton; Edward. History of the Moravian Church: The Story of the First International Protestant Church (1956).

[edit] External links

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Moravian Church
Provinces
Other work
Congregations
Educational institutions
Other institutions
Settlements
Traditions
History
People
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