In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, love

The movement that became the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus (English: John Hus) in the late fourteenth 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, 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 and burned at the stake.

 

Within fifty years of Hus's martyrdom, a contingent of his followers had become independently organized as the 'Bohemian Brethren' or Unity of the Brethren, which was founded in Kunvald, Bohemia, in 1457.  These were some of 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 Lissa in Poland, which had historically strong ties with the Czechs, and in small, isolated groups in Moravia.

The 18^th century renewal

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 Oberlausitz 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. 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 a 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.

 Missions

The Moravian missionaries were the first large scale Protestant missionary movement. 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 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.

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.

 

 

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"

That the Lamb will get His reward through me!