In Memoriam: The Rev. Dr. Brigitte Schloss(1927-2013) This summer, a fixture of the Labrador and Newfoundland’s Moravian community passed away. The Rev. Dr. Brigitte Schloss touched Moravians in Germany, England and for many years, Labrador. We share a remembrance from Hans Rollman, a professor of religious studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland.
On
the afternoon of Aug. 24, 2013, while Brigitte Schloss’ earthly remains were buried at Nain with a memorial service in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, I attended at the Anglican Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in
The Rev. Dr. Brigitte Schloss ; above, Nain in Labrador
St. John’s, a moving celebration and thanksgiving for her life. That service was arranged according to her wishes, with many of her friends attending, including a large contingent from Labrador. I met Brigitte in the early 1990s after she had retired from her position as coordinator of Memorial University’s (MUN) native teacher education program in Labrador. At the time she was studying in Queen’s College, a time-honored Anglican theological institution in St. John’s, so that she might be better prepared for her post-retirement career as a minister in the Moravian Church. As I came to know this already ailing senior, I soon realized that here was an individual who had the widest life experience and an expansive mind that remained forever young and inquisitive. Brigitte’s wish for ordination became a reality when the Moravian bishop the Rt. Rev. Dr. Arthur Freeman, a man whom she admired very much for his creative and bold theological thinking, ordained her at Nain, Labrador, in October 1995. As I became increasingly interested in the Moravian Church and its historical roots in Europe, we had many conversations, in which she taught me much about the church in Labrador. The Moravian
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
MORAVIANS IN MISSION