History of the Moravian Church
THE HISTORY OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH
While researching the history of the early Moravian Church, six men
stand out as being instrumental in keeping the Moravian movement
alive and years later, actually bringing the Moravian religion and
traditions to North America. I’m referring to Cyril and Methodius of
Constantinople, John Wycliffe, John Hus, Jon Amos Comenius, and the
Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
In the year 836, two brothers, Cyril and Methodius of Constantinople,
went to Moravia as missionaries. Cyril invented an alphabet for the
Moravian language and he and Methodius began translating the Bible
for the people. They also preached in the native tongue.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) was an English philosopher in religion and
politics during the Middle Ages. Wycliffe struggled with the power of
the popes and clergy and the kings and their nobles. He wrote that the
Bible, not the church, was the authority for Christian beliefs. His writing
influenced a number of reformers, including John Hus of Bohemia.
John Hus (1369-1415) was a Bohemian religious reformer whose
teachings were the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation.
Ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1401, Hus attracted many
followers. He attacked the practices of bishops, cardinals, and popes
and called for reform in the church. Hus was condemned a heretic and
burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. Hus did not live long enough to see
the Protestant Church or any of its branches started, but he sowed the
seed. A fierce persecution of the followers of Hus began, forcing some
to retreat to the region of Kunwald in the Barony of Lititz. There, in
1457, they organized a church along the New Testament lines, under
elders. This was the start of the Unitas Fratrum, the Unity of the
Brethren, later to be known as the Moravian Church.
Hus’ ideas did not die with him. His followers organized into several
factions and a half century of conflict followed. They adopted four
principles as the basis of their union: the Bible as the only source of
Christian doctrine, public worship in accord with Scripture teaching and
on the model of the Apostolic Church, the Lord’s Supper to be received
in faith by everyone and Godly life as an essential of saving faith. By
the beginning of the 15th century, people from all classes of society had
come to join them and they grew. Although the Unity of the Brethren
remained an illegal movement in the Czech land for more of its
existence, the Brethren made contact with the Lutheran and Reformed
churches as their movements emerged. By this time, the Unitas
Fratrum had grown to more than four hundred congregations and
approximately 200,000 members.
In the last quarter of the 16th century, there was a brief rest in the
persecution of the Brethren, although it didn’t last long. In 1602, the
Jesuits persuaded the Emperor Rudolph to ban the Brethren once
again. When Rudolph died in 1612, his successor, Ferdinand, a fanatical
Catholic, was determined to rid Bohemia of Protestants. Thus began
the Thirty Year’s War.
The Thirty Year’s War began in Bohemia on May 23, 1618. Finally in
1648, after thirty years of fighting, the Treaty of Westphalia was
negotiated, but the question as to whether the Brethren could return to
their homeland was never settled.
Jon Amos Comenius was only twenty-six years old when the Thirty Year’
s War started. Comenius was a bishop, an educator, a refugee, a
peacemaker, and an author. He was an ordained minister in the Unity
of the Brethren. After the Unity was banished from their homeland
Bohemia, Comenius led a group of exiles up the Giant Mountain into
Poland. Comenius prayed for God to preserve a “hidden seed” of the
Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia. That prospect looked dim in the years to
follow. Wherever they went, the Brethren were persecuted, caught
between the Lutherans, the Calvinists and the Catholics. Comenius
died a disappointed man, although his hidden seed remained. Others
carried on secretly in Moravia and Bohemia. The Unity was destined to
rise again.
The Renewed Moravian Church, dating from 1722, is the product of
three converging factors: a religious revival in Germany called Pietism,
the coming to life of what seemed to be a lifeless church and the
personality of a great man, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
While still a student, Zinzendorf established a religious society called,
The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The society pledged three
things….to be kind to all men, to be true to Christ and to send the
Gospel to the world. The first two pledges caused Zinzendorf to allow
the Moravian refugees to settle on his estate and to build the town of
Herrnhut. The third pledge resulted in the Moravian Church becoming,
“the Mother of the Protestant Foreign Mission Movement.”
By 1727, the refugees in Herrnhut included Roman Catholics,
Anabaptists, Lutherans, Calvinists and dissenters from Moravia,
Bohemia, Poland, and Germany. The Brethren functioned for a time
within the Lutheran Church, of which Zinzendorf was a member. There
was a lot of controversy, but on Wednesday, August 13, 1727, at a
Communion service, a powerful Spirit came upon the people.
Zinzendorf referred to that day as the “Pentecost” of the Renewed
Moravian Church. This service renewed the thought of mission work
for Zinzendorf. Thus, missionaries were dispatched to many parts of the
world.
For the next ten years, missionaries traveled to the Netherlands,
England, Ireland, Germany and the Russian provinces of Estonia and
Livonia. On October 8, 1732, missionaries sailed for the West Indies and
later to North America. Other missionaries traveled to Greenland,
Lapland, Georgia, Surinam, Africa’s Guinea Coast, South Africa,
Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter, Algeria, Ceylon, Romania and
Constantinople.
In 1734 the first Moravians in America settled in Savannah, Georgia. Six
years later they moved to Pennsylvania. In 1741 Zinzendorf visited the
American colonies and during the next two years helped establish
several Moravian communities in Pennsylvania, including Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania. He also encouraged missionary work among the Native
Americans. After twenty-eight years of Moravian mission work,
Zinzendorf died on May 9, 1760.
In 1753 the Moravians established Bethabara, the first settlement in
North Carolina, the second settlement in 1756 was Bethania and the
third in Salem, in 1766. It was from the Salem congregation, in 1833 that
a layperson, named Van Neman Zevely began to make trips to the Blue
Ridge Mountain area of southern Virginia to teach and preach the word
of God. Thus, the first Moravian church in Virginia was established in
1852 and was named Mount Bethel Moravian Church.
While researching the history of the early Moravian Church, six men
stand out as being instrumental in keeping the Moravian movement
alive and years later, actually bringing the Moravian religion and
traditions to North America. I’m referring to Cyril and Methodius of
Constantinople, John Wycliffe, John Hus, Jon Amos Comenius, and the
Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
In the year 836, two brothers, Cyril and Methodius of Constantinople,
went to Moravia as missionaries. Cyril invented an alphabet for the
Moravian language and he and Methodius began translating the Bible
for the people. They also preached in the native tongue.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) was an English philosopher in religion and
politics during the Middle Ages. Wycliffe struggled with the power of
the popes and clergy and the kings and their nobles. He wrote that the
Bible, not the church, was the authority for Christian beliefs. His writing
influenced a number of reformers, including John Hus of Bohemia.
John Hus (1369-1415) was a Bohemian religious reformer whose
teachings were the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation.
Ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1401, Hus attracted many
followers. He attacked the practices of bishops, cardinals, and popes
and called for reform in the church. Hus was condemned a heretic and
burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. Hus did not live long enough to see
the Protestant Church or any of its branches started, but he sowed the
seed. A fierce persecution of the followers of Hus began, forcing some
to retreat to the region of Kunwald in the Barony of Lititz. There, in
1457, they organized a church along the New Testament lines, under
elders. This was the start of the Unitas Fratrum, the Unity of the
Brethren, later to be known as the Moravian Church.
Hus’ ideas did not die with him. His followers organized into several
factions and a half century of conflict followed. They adopted four
principles as the basis of their union: the Bible as the only source of
Christian doctrine, public worship in accord with Scripture teaching and
on the model of the Apostolic Church, the Lord’s Supper to be received
in faith by everyone and Godly life as an essential of saving faith. By
the beginning of the 15th century, people from all classes of society had
come to join them and they grew. Although the Unity of the Brethren
remained an illegal movement in the Czech land for more of its
existence, the Brethren made contact with the Lutheran and Reformed
churches as their movements emerged. By this time, the Unitas
Fratrum had grown to more than four hundred congregations and
approximately 200,000 members.
In the last quarter of the 16th century, there was a brief rest in the
persecution of the Brethren, although it didn’t last long. In 1602, the
Jesuits persuaded the Emperor Rudolph to ban the Brethren once
again. When Rudolph died in 1612, his successor, Ferdinand, a fanatical
Catholic, was determined to rid Bohemia of Protestants. Thus began
the Thirty Year’s War.
The Thirty Year’s War began in Bohemia on May 23, 1618. Finally in
1648, after thirty years of fighting, the Treaty of Westphalia was
negotiated, but the question as to whether the Brethren could return to
their homeland was never settled.
Jon Amos Comenius was only twenty-six years old when the Thirty Year’
s War started. Comenius was a bishop, an educator, a refugee, a
peacemaker, and an author. He was an ordained minister in the Unity
of the Brethren. After the Unity was banished from their homeland
Bohemia, Comenius led a group of exiles up the Giant Mountain into
Poland. Comenius prayed for God to preserve a “hidden seed” of the
Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia. That prospect looked dim in the years to
follow. Wherever they went, the Brethren were persecuted, caught
between the Lutherans, the Calvinists and the Catholics. Comenius
died a disappointed man, although his hidden seed remained. Others
carried on secretly in Moravia and Bohemia. The Unity was destined to
rise again.
The Renewed Moravian Church, dating from 1722, is the product of
three converging factors: a religious revival in Germany called Pietism,
the coming to life of what seemed to be a lifeless church and the
personality of a great man, Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf.
While still a student, Zinzendorf established a religious society called,
The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The society pledged three
things….to be kind to all men, to be true to Christ and to send the
Gospel to the world. The first two pledges caused Zinzendorf to allow
the Moravian refugees to settle on his estate and to build the town of
Herrnhut. The third pledge resulted in the Moravian Church becoming,
“the Mother of the Protestant Foreign Mission Movement.”
By 1727, the refugees in Herrnhut included Roman Catholics,
Anabaptists, Lutherans, Calvinists and dissenters from Moravia,
Bohemia, Poland, and Germany. The Brethren functioned for a time
within the Lutheran Church, of which Zinzendorf was a member. There
was a lot of controversy, but on Wednesday, August 13, 1727, at a
Communion service, a powerful Spirit came upon the people.
Zinzendorf referred to that day as the “Pentecost” of the Renewed
Moravian Church. This service renewed the thought of mission work
for Zinzendorf. Thus, missionaries were dispatched to many parts of the
world.
For the next ten years, missionaries traveled to the Netherlands,
England, Ireland, Germany and the Russian provinces of Estonia and
Livonia. On October 8, 1732, missionaries sailed for the West Indies and
later to North America. Other missionaries traveled to Greenland,
Lapland, Georgia, Surinam, Africa’s Guinea Coast, South Africa,
Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter, Algeria, Ceylon, Romania and
Constantinople.
In 1734 the first Moravians in America settled in Savannah, Georgia. Six
years later they moved to Pennsylvania. In 1741 Zinzendorf visited the
American colonies and during the next two years helped establish
several Moravian communities in Pennsylvania, including Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania. He also encouraged missionary work among the Native
Americans. After twenty-eight years of Moravian mission work,
Zinzendorf died on May 9, 1760.
In 1753 the Moravians established Bethabara, the first settlement in
North Carolina, the second settlement in 1756 was Bethania and the
third in Salem, in 1766. It was from the Salem congregation, in 1833 that
a layperson, named Van Neman Zevely began to make trips to the Blue
Ridge Mountain area of southern Virginia to teach and preach the word
of God. Thus, the first Moravian church in Virginia was established in
1852 and was named Mount Bethel Moravian Church.
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