MORAVIAN BRETHREN

MORAVIAN BRETHREN. The Moravian Church (Unity of Brethren) originated in a Bible-centered group that formed in Bohemia and Moravia in 1457 and later became known as the Unitas Fratum (Unity of Brethren). Exiled to Poland at the time of the Thirty Years War, the Brethren were reborn in Saxony in 1722 under the leadership of Count Nicholas Zinzendorf. Moravians stressed the humanity of Jesus Christ, the power of divine grace in effecting a change of heart, mind, and disposition, and the love of God in Christ, rather than his sovereignty or justice. They refrained from authoritative definitions of doctrine and tried to avoid approaching Scripture in a dogmatic way, stressing religious tolerance and an evangelical vision rather than theological conformity.

The first Moravians settled in Georgia in 1735, although within five years they had relocated to Pennsylvania, where they ministered to German Protestant exiles. Under Bishop August Spangenberg, they made a major

contribution to the Great Awakening during the 1740s. The Moravian Church operated a communal system known as the "Economy," whereby it controlled all enterprises and real estate and assigned duties to its members. In 1766, the Moravians settled Salem, North Carolina, and in 1771, the Northern and Southern congregations were administratively separated. During the Revolution, the Brethren adopted a neutral stance, refusing to bear arms, but paying taxation and ministering to the wounded.

The Church's evangelistic effectiveness was limited by a 1779 decision of the United Brethren General Synod in Europe to adopt strict standards of admission. Congregations were required to conform to regulations demanding a quietist form of piety. American Moravians, however, soon challenged the General Synod's positions on military service and pastoral control of the temporal affairs of a congregation and demanded a democratic election structure for church offices. In the 1840s, restrictions on exclusive Church ownership of land and business in Moravian communities were lifted, and in 1848, the General Synod sanctioned provincial synods for the Northern and Southern Provinces. A provincial Home Missions Board was created in 1855 and the Church expanded its mission work to the Midwest.

During the twentieth century, Moravians in the North, most notably Paul de Schweinitz, expressed strong support for religious cooperation and church union. There has been some decline of Moravian religious traditions and the adoption of main-line church practices such as vacation Bible school. During the 1910s, the Church established commissions to conduct work in rural areas and to focus evangelistic effort. Authority in the Church was decentralized in 1930, and bishops became subject to election by ballot in 1936. In the South, the Moravians grew rapidly and have been much involved in the religious culture of Winston-Salem, winning much approval for their support for women's education.

Cooperation between the Northern and Southern Provinces has been fostered by Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and by the Interprovincial Board of Education, created in 1936. In 1946, the Moravian World Peace Committee was established to encourage overseas relief and secure the banning of atomic weapons. The Moravian Church in America has remained comparatively small, with only 26,103 members in 1999, and most Moravian congregations are found in Tanzania and the Caribbean.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hamilton, John Taylor, and Kenneth G. Hamilton. History of the Moravian Church: The Renewed Unitas Fratrum, 1722–1957. Bethlehem, Pa: Interprovincial Board of Christian Education, Moravian Church in America, 1967.

Sawyer, Edwin A. All About the Moravians: History, Beliefs, and Practices of a Worldwide Church. Bethlehem, Pa: Moravian Church in America, 1990.

JeremyBonner

See alsoReligion and Religious Affiliation .

Moravian Brethren, now commonly known as the Moravian Church. The remnant of the Bohemian Brethren who from 1722 settled at Herrnhut under the patronage of N. L. von Zinzendorf, became known as the Moravian or United Brethren. There was a strong Pietistic element in the community, and in the early days they had close links with the Lutheran Church. They felt they had a peculiar calling to witness to Christ among people who did not know Him, and in 1732 Moravian missionaries began work in the West Indies, soon going also to Greenland (1733), South Africa (1736), and Labrador (1752).

Moravians have always emphasized fellowship and service rather than credal statements. They have retained the offices of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, but they do not wholly correspond with their Catholic counterparts. The Moravian Church is made up of 19 self-governing Provinces; it has a membership of c.600,000, of whom over a quarter are in Tanzania.

Moravian Brethren. The Church of the United Brethren, a Christian body which renewed the declining Bohemian Brethren, after refugees from the Thirty Years' War took refuge on the estates of Count Zinzendorf (1700–60), who presided over a great spiritual revival. As a ‘unity of brethren’ (Unitas Fratrum), they did not seek to become a separate church, but saw themselves as a leaven in existing churches. Nevertheless, survival dictated organization (it was recognized as a church, e.g. in Britain in 1749), and it was vigorously missionary throughout the world. It is strongly evangelical, regarding the Bible as the sole rule of faith and conduct.