Moravian Magazine, Issue 9 2017

I S S U E

Let our lights so shine Looking back on a career of mission work Congregations helping hurricane victims Learning about early Moravian women

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Help us grant Larger Life to Moravian ministries.

The Larger Life Foundation is a permanent endowment fund that has provided “larger life” to the ministries of the Moravian Church Northern Province since 1920. Foundation grants and loans support churches, retirement homes, camps, education and social welfare programs, ministerial training, administrative support and church expansion. More than $5 million has been distributed in the last 10 years alone.

The Foundation relies exclusively on gifts and bequests from people like you. Your support directly touches many lives and offers new visions for the Moravian Church.

Visit www.largerlifefoundation.org or call 610.867.7566, ext. 17 to make a difference in the life of our church.

Larger Life Foundation

MORAVIAN CHURCH NORTHERN PROVINCE

Help for Today. Building for Tomorrow.

Moravian Crystal

© 2017 MCC

Moravian Crystal Company is pleased to present a collection of elegant renderings, highly detailed and produced in 3D laser engraved imaging into optical grade crystal.

These unique gifts, designed in Winston-Salem, N.C., celebrate Moravian history, heritage and traditions.

For more information or to order, visit www.moraviancrystal.com Moravian Crystal Company, Inc. 2150 Country Club Rd, Suite 248 • Winston-Salem, N.C. 27104 • (336) 306-5688

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The Moravian

On the cover: Advent stars and beeswax candles signal Christmas is coming. Photo by Mike Riess

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14 Moravian Traditions

Christ and him crucified remain our confession of faith In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love God Creates, God Redeems, God Blesses. We Respond in Faith, Love & Hope

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Let Our Lights So Shine

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Morning Star, O Cheering Sight

Larger Life Foundation 8 Larger Life Foundation enriches college-community connection

Moravian in Mission 10 Thanks for the memories...

In Our Congregations 14 Churches come together to build “Welcome Kits” for

Puerto Rican families 17 Christmas from Carolina to the Caribbean

Moravian History 18 Comenius Learning Series lecture highlights leadership

and contributions of early Moravian women 20 Book Review: Speaking to Body and Soul by Katherine Faull

...And More Visit our website at http://www.moravian.org.

Letters to the editor, address corrections, and other correspondence may be e-mailed to the editorial staff at moravianmagazine@mcnp.org.

Issue 9 2017

4 Ponderings: 22 Confessing Our Unity in Christ: Ground of the Unity 25 Official Provincial Elders’ News 26 Statistics of the Moravian Church Northern & Southern Provinces

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PONDERINGS (ISSN 1041-0961 USPS 362600) Nov. 2017, Vol. 48, No. 9 Publications Agreement No. 40036408 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: OnTrac International, 121 5th Avenue NW, New Brighton, MN 55112 email: file@ontrac.com Official Journal, The Moravian Church in North America, Northern and Southern Provinces

“Morning Star, on my front porch…”* On many Moravian (and non-Moravian) front porches and foyers this time of year, Advent Stars­—or what we call “Moravian Stars”—are on display. While they make lovely decorations, they also remind us that the joy of Christmas is coming.

The Advent after I joined the IBOC, our family received a white Herrnhuter star as a gift. The many-pointed star, made in Germany, was wired to be displayed outside. We hung it on our front porch for all to see. Coming home in the evening and seeing it brightening the front of the house helped get me in the Christmas spirit.

When January rolled around and I took down our decorations, I stashed the star away with our other lights and trimmings. We went back to our regular old porch light, looking like every other house on the street. When Advent arrived, the star went back up, only to return to the attic after Epiphany.

The following year, however, I didn’t get around to pulling any of our decorative lights down until March. All through the winter, our front-porch Moravian star blazed on. It was then that I thought, “Why not leave it up all year ‘round.”

That procrastination in removing our Christmas decorations had a wonderful effect: it made me realize just how welcoming that star can be.

Since then, our Moravian star has brightened our neighborhood. We replaced the standard bulb with an LED lamp that’s even brighter and won’t need changing for years. It stays on all night, every night.

I’ve also noticed that there are many otherswho leave that star up all year and I’m glad that they do. Seeing this symbol of our church and our beliefs glowing in, say, the middle of July, offers a gentle reminder that God’s love shines brightly everywhere, and that his only son is always with us.

And, of course, its fun to tell visitors coming to our home for the first time that once they get to our street, all they need to do is follow the star! Here’s wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Peace,

Published monthly, except bimonthly January-February and June-July issues, by the Interprovincial Board of Communication, 1021 Center St., Bethlehem, PA 18018.

Subscription rates: $15.00 per year, U.S.A. & Canada; $18.00 per year, all other countries.

Individual copies available for $3.00 each.

The Moravian is sent to the families of the Moravian Church as a privilege of membership. Periodicals postage paid at Bethlehem, PA. Circulation: 17,000 Postmaster please send address changes to The Moravian, PO Box 1245, Bethlehem, PA 18016-1245.

Continuing The North American Moravian, The Moravian and The Wachovia Moravian.

Michael Riess, Editor Susan Kiefner, Communications Assistant Jill Bruckart, Customer Relations/Business Assistant Interprovincial Board of Communication Ginny Tobiassen, chair Terri Bischoff, Peggy Carter, Margaret Couch, Lance Fox, Paul Knouse, Kat Lehman, Amy Linville, Dan Miller, Jill Westbrook, Design by Michael Riess, IBOC. Address all correspondence regarding articles, subscriptions, or advertising to The Moravian, PO Box 1245, Bethlehem, PA 18016-1245 FAX: 610.866.9223 Phone: 610.867.0594 800.732.0591 e-mail: moravianmagazine@mcnp.org www.moravian.org Contents © 2017, Interprovincial Board of Communications, Moravian Church in America.

All rights reserved

Mike Riess, editor * I tried to write a new verse to Morning Star, O Cheering Sight. It went something like “Advent Star, on my front porch/light my front yard like a torch…” Then I stopped, realizing I shouldn’t mess with this beloved hymn. See the real thing on page 7.

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The Moravian

MORAVIAN TRADITIONS

Let Our Lights So Shine

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ake a good look at a Moravian Christmas candle. Whatever is it doing in our modern church?

Mr. Twentieth Century says it is nothing but a cylinder of yellow wax from a beehive, molded around a string and decorated with a bright-colored paper frill. Mrs. Practical moans that hours of work are needed to make and trim each one. Miss Efficiency adds that it represents an out-of-date method of lighting and the church has an electric system that illuminates every corner of the auditorium easily and economically.

But who wants to listen to this utilitarian trio instead of taking part in the Christmas Eve Vigil? Plain, dull practicality is out-voiced in this colorful, joyous season. The inefficient, out-of-date, much-loved candle becomes the high point of the service.

Every child in the church eagerly watches the crack in the doors for the first flicker of light that means the lighted candles are ready to be brought in. “Behold a great, a heavenly light� we sing; and our eyes, too, are intent on catching the first glimpse of the glowing trays of candles.

The stirring music, the loveliness of the church decorations, the wonder of the Christmas story crowd away the hurry and worry of the outside world. As the sacristans carry in trays of lighted candles, we put a heart full of expression into our singing.

(Continued on next page)

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Light Shine (Continued from previous page)

The twinkling candles pass swiftly from hand to hand across the long bench-rows, making little chains of light throughout the church. We are surrounded by the happiness of young and old, sharing with us the wonder of the Christmas Story.

Little flames dip and bend; drops of fragrant wax slip down and solidify on the gay ruffle. There is no practicality and no magic in the candle—how did it come to be an important part of our Christmas observance?

Whatever our interpretation, we pray our lives reflect the heavenly light of which we sing...

The first Christmas candles were given out at a Moravian children’s service on Christmas Eve, 1747. Christmas, to the members of the Moravian church, was a festival particularly for the children, a time when they could learn its story and what it meant to the world.

Bishop John de Watteville held the first service for the children at Marienborn Castle that year. As he told them the Christmas story, he reminded them of what Jesus had done for the love of them, and he had lighted candles, with red bands, distributed to help them remember that Jesus wanted to kindle a little flame in each believing heart.

The next year, a similar service was held in Herrnhut. The idea traveled wherever the Moravians went.

In 1756, the first such service in the New World was conducted by Bishop Peter Boehler for the children of Bethlehem. He showed the children a special painting of the nativity scene, gave a gift to each boy and girl, and then a lighted candle. They sang, “How brightly shines the 6

Morning Star,” and the chapel was “ablaze” with 250 burning tapers.

When he dismissed them, the children carried their candles, still burning, to their quarters. This was a time when the threat of Indian attack was still very real and life was frugal in the pioneer town. Imagine what seeing 250 candles burning at one time much have been like? And having one’s own candle was a luxury for the children, too. It must have made the cold of the winter night and the restrictions of the time less severe.

For us, the candles have a different light— dim, shadowed, but meaningful. It makes us think of Christ, the Light of the World. We think of God’s Word, or the Church, or the Bible, as sending out rays of truth to dispel ignorance and sin as the candle flame challenges the shadows.

Churches have used candles for centuries, and beeswax to make them, because it was considered a symbol of purity. According to one writer, the wax represents the body of the Word become flesh, the wick stands for the soul; “both kindling into flame to manifest glory as of the only begotten Father.”

Whatever our interpretation, we pray our lives may reflect the heavenly light of which we sing, as the candles echo it. “Let our light so shine…” is our unspoken prayer.

Ask a child what the candle means. He’ll say it means Christmas. Whatever we may see in the candle glow, that little, impractical beeswax cylinder with its gay petticoat means Christmas to Moravian children. And all of us are children on Christmas Eve. n This article by Lee Shields Butterfield first appeared in the December 1959 issue of The Moravian. While 60 years have passed, this piece feels like it could have been written today.

The Moravian

Morning Star, O Cheering Sight Morning Star, O cheering sight!* Ere thou cam’st, how dark earth’s night!

Morning Star, O cheering sight!

Ere thou cam’st, how dark earth’s night!

Jesus mine, in me shine; in me shine, Jesus mine; fill my heart with light divine.

Morning Star, thy glory bright far excels the sun’s clear light.

Morning Star, thy glory bright far excels the sun’s clear light.

Jesus be, constantly, constantly, Jesus be more than thousand suns to me.

Thy glad beams, thou Morning Star, cheer the nations near and far.

Thy glad beams, thou Morning Star, cheer the nations near and far.

Thee we own, Lord alone, Lord alone, thee we own, our dear Savior, God’s dear Son. The singing of “Morning Star, O Cheering Sight” is a longstanding, heartwarming Christmas Eve tradition in many Moravian congregations. A young person from the congregation is invited to lead the singing, which features a call and response. As the song comes to a close, worshipers hold up their lighted beeswax candles, filling darkened sanctuaries with a warm and festive glow. The final line invites the coming Christ to “fill our hearts with light divine.”

Issue 9 2017

Morning Star, my soul’s true light, tarry not, dispel my night.

Morning Star, my soul’s true light, tarry not, dispel my night.

Jesus mine, in me shine; in me shine, Jesus mine; fill my heart with light divine. * Sung antiphonally with solo and congregation Text: Johann Scheffler (1657). Tr. Bennet Harvey, Jr. (1885) Tune: Francis Florentine Hagen (1836) Reprinted from the 1995 Moravian Book of Worship with the permission of the Interprovincial Board of Communication, Moravian Church in America.

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LARGER LIFE FOUNDATION

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Larger Life Foundation enriches college-community connection

he Larger Life Foundation is fast approaching 100 years of ministry to the Moravian Church Northern Province.

Through income received from its permanent endowment fund, the Foundation is able to provide “larger life” to many Moravian agencies and causes. Its financial reach is broad and far-reaching, including support for individual churches, educational institutions, camps, retirement facilities, ministerial aid and training, social welfare programs, Provincial administrative support, world mission and church expansion.

Support for education has been integral to the Larger Life Foundation mission since its inception in 1920, when the Northern Provincial Synod designated Moravian College and Theological Seminary as one of the Foundation’s ten grant recipients. Today, the College and Theological Seminary comprise one of 20 core agencies receiving annual grant assistance from the Foundation. They currently

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designate their funds for essential scholarship aid and also general operating expenses.

Smaller discretionary grants for shortterm specific projects are also awarded by the Foundation. One of the 19 smaller discretionary grants awarded in 2016 went to Moravian College: a $5,400 grant for an innovative program called, “The 1742 Experience.”

The program was originally created as a week-long pre-orientation program for incoming first-year students, but later it was expanded to projects throughout the year. Through the program, students engaged in community service, principally in the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, area, including the library, Boys & Girls Club, Central Moravian Church, Green Meadows Burial Ground, Historic Bethlehem, New Bethany Ministries, Peaceable Kingdom, YMCA, elementary schools and an emergency shelter.

The service projects initially focused on the social injustice issues that are relevant for the community: homelessness, food insecu-

rity, and children and youth. For example, in September, work included making over 400 socks for residents of a local nursing home; in October, they created a safe Halloween experience for local elementary school children; in November, they created fleece scarves and blankets for donations to the Bethlehem Emergency Services shelter. Later projects included efforts such as Operation Santa, a spring planting event, building birdhouses and tutoring elementary school children. The activities were student-driven in both creation and implementation.

Student reaction to the “The 1742 Experience” has been positive. One student shared, “This really opened my eyes and made me realize I need to count my blessings, even in basic stuff like food and shelter.” Another wrote, “My biggest takeaway was: the meaning I got out of life by helping others instead of myself for once. I became selfless for the week and it’s opened my eyes to amazing opportunities and experiences.”

Moravian College staffers reported to the Larger Life Foundation that “because of the generosity of the Larger Life grant, we were able to recruit twice as many students as we have in previous years, and were able to contribute to our community in both direct and indirect ways.

Overall the students were able to serve at 11 sites in our community, some more than once, volunteering over 800 hours of service.”

The 1742 Experience program was initially launched at the College in 2011. It continues to thrive today under the direction of Gillian Sharkey, Director of Civic Engagement, enriching the lives of the students and the community at large.

Through annual core grants, discretionary grants for smaller projects and loans to churches, the Larger Life Foundation’s ministry to the Moravian church remains steadfast, with more than $5 million in grants and loans distributed in the past ten years alone. The Issue 9 2017

Foundation’s enduring commitment is to provide help for today and to build for tomorrow.

It relies entirely on large and small gifts from contributors. For information on how you can give to support the work of the Foundation, visit www.largerlifefoundation.org or contact Tammy Curcio, Treasurer, PO Box 1245, Bethlehem, PA 18016 or call 800-732-0591 or 610-867-7566, ext. 17. n Carolyn Clewell serves on the board of the Larger Life Foundation. Photos of participants in the “1742 Experience” at Moravian College courtesy of Robert Breckinridge, director of foundation relations at Moravian College.

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MORAVIANS IN MISSION

Thanks for the memories...

Retiring Board of World Mission Executive Director Judy Ganz shares thoughts on the Moravian mission work

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t truly has been a privilege to serve as the Executive Director of the Moravian Board of World Mission in North America, and I am grateful for God’s faithfulness and guidance in this ministry. I want to take this opportunity to summarize some of the work of BWM over the past six-plus years.

Working off of efforts that were initiated prior to my arrival, the BWM finalized our concepts for favored practices that stressed being centered in Christ, encouraging mutuality in our relationships, promoting good accountability, and facilitating the development of selfreliance. Looking back we can see how these foundational principles have framed much of BWM’s efforts over the past years.

A primary initiative has been to promote

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self-reliance for our global partners, which affirms their gifts and ownership of the ministry that God has given them. Methods to move in this direction have been: • decreasing partner subsidies for basic operations by 5-to-10 percent per year; • capping the amount of subsidy provided to new work areas in order to encourage selfreliance from the beginning; • using mission grants to promote leadership development, mission outreach, and economic strengthening as a different model of partnership that is less likely to create dependency; • developing a business model for partners, which would help generate income for ministry.

The Moravian

Between 2012 and 2018 we decreased partner subsidies by 56 percent. Funds that would have gone to subsidy now go to mission grants in order to help global partners in ways that build them up, develop leaders, support their mission efforts, and encourage the development of income-generating projects, moving from dependency to promoting overall self-reliance for their churches.

Mission grants have been provided to the Alaska Moravian Church for mission outreach in Marshall, Alaska; to the businesses in Peru (an English academy, the Bubbles Laundromat, a Mariachi band, and a yogurt business); to support scholarships for pastor theological training beyond the basic Bible Institute level; to help with pastoral conferences in Honduras and Western Tanzania; and to help with mission outreach. The mission grant model provides a wonderful possibility for how we can partner in new ways and affirm the gifts and abilities already among our partners!

Another favored practice BWM has been trying to be more intentional about is mutuality with our global partners. This is extremely difficult because when much of the funding, and thus power, comes from the global north, it’s Issue 9 2017

hard to have honesty and transparency at the table with our brothers and sisters from the global south. Our communication will likely always be handicapped to some degree because of this.

But our promotion of mutuality also entails recognizing the tremendous gifts that these Moravians are to us. Through these partners BWM provides an important connection for our congregations to the rest of the Unity, giving opportunities for mission service, resource sharing and growth in cross-cultural understandings.

Our partners often witness to a vibrant faith, and challenge us in our own. The risk-taking of our friends in Nepal within a Hindu culture, the passion to evangelize in Western Tanzania, and the desire to serve youth who are struggling in the Czech Republic are just some ways our partners witness to God’s call to mission.

We participate in mission outreach through our partners: support of the Sukumu in W. Tanzania, the GarĂ­funa and Belize outreach in Honduras, and the ongoing ministry to youth in Cuba are some examples.

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Mission (Continued from previous page)

Our partners bring us diversity in how they worship, diversity in how they understand and live out scripture, diversity in how they view time, diversity in their food and their dress, to name just a few. While we don’t always agree, we ourselves grow more within this diversity that blesses us as much as it challenges us. It is worth the effort to continue to build relationships with these partners that move us closer to open and mutual dialogue.

Our desire for accountability is closely intertwined with the mutuality that we encourage. Again this is not always easy. Our focused efforts over the past five-plus years have been with the medical work in Ahuas, Honduras. With the help of Rick Nelson, we finally have a good financial system in place and an accountant that has received much of the training necessary to keep the records and generate helpful reports. We are excited that both the Honduras Province and Mission Province also want to improve their financial management process. There is still much to be done, including the need to address the underlying reality in Ahuas that income has not been sufficient to cover expenses for some time. But thanks to our efforts, we have better tools with which to assess this situation.

In addition to our work with global part12

ners, BWM has worked to journey more effectively with our constituent congregations.

Our Antioch program, under Jill Kolodziej, has been exploring different models for sending people of all ages in short-term mission. Staff has been working on developing a distinct mission curriculum, incorporating different levels of training for different levels of service. Mission engagement, under Justin Rabbach, has also increased communication with and training in congregations, developed an internship program with BWM, and held mission events for young adults. Staff has worked with congregations in mission discernment, with a new sense of direction growing out of these sessions. I believe that overall our relationship with our congregations is stronger than it was before.

Justin also recently developed an improved schematic for evaluating BWM disaster response, providing three smaller trailers of tools for more effective transport and use. We had a trailer helping with Tricklebee CafĂŠ in Wisconsin that has now been moved to Texas to help with disaster relief there. Generous donations have all o w e d support to be sent to the Eastern West Indies (EWI) for rebuilding from their hurricanes, and we are working with Jamaica and the EWI to begin to improve the infrastructure of the church in Haiti.

Sam Gray, Director of Intercultural MinThe Moravian

istry and New Work, has guided our mission areas of Peru, Cuba and Sierra Leone as they develop their constitutions and leadership structure. In 2016 Cuba was accepted as a mission province of the Unity and now has elected its first bishop, Rev. Armando Rusindo.

Our Likewise Ministry is somewhat in the background of our work, but it is truly worth celebrating. In addition to helping with HIV management in Honduras, Likewise helped to develop the HUKWAFA program in Western Tanzania, originally providing periodic food distributions, education and health care for vulnerable children in two communities. It then moved to forming groups within these communities and subsequently took a loan to start a small enterprise. Some bought land and raised corn, while others have begun a chicken project. We are seeing in just a short time, improvements in lifestyle and a sense of accomplishment within the people—to be caring for their families without depending upon outside funds.

For me this strengthening of people’s ability to care for themselves—to have dignity in their lives—is a crucial aspect of the gospel we share. It is easy for us as North Americans to just go in and “fix” things for people. It is extremely hard to hold back and let them make their own decisions and seek out their own solutions and resources. But when we just fix things, we imply that they are unable to fix things. We imply that their way is not good enough—that it has to be like we would do it.

We imply that they need us, and, in all of this, lessen their own sense of self-esteem.

Promoting self-reliance and finding a healthy way to walk alongside our partners is hard, but it is a necessary thing if we truly want to affirm and equip the people we serve. The BWM has only scratched the surface in moving in this direction, but I pray that we continue to

Issue 9 2017

ask the hard questions of others and of ourselves, mindful of the underlying messages that our actions convey to others.

I cannot end without one more reminder to our church. Many will recall that my ministry has been founded on the verses in Isaiah 43:19, when the Lord God tells the people of Israel while they are in exile: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” In the difficult times, in the “exiles” of our lives, may we never forget that our God is always about doing a new thing, about bringing new possibility to situations that appear hopeless.

As I have seen in these past six-plus years, this does not happen overnight and it takes a lot of hard work and consistent intention. But with God’s guidance we have moved three provinces off of subsidy and have new ways to support their ministries according to our self-reliance guidelines. Our mission areas are growing, and there are new possibilities for mission in Ecuador and Brazil for us to explore. New groups are being ministered to by our global partners and we are helping with that. Our North American congregations are showing increasing passion for the mission of the church, and are exploring new ways by which to reach out, be that local or global. We are developing a strong core of young adult leadership in mission.

I have no doubt that God is active in our church, and that God has much more for us to do in the mission that we have been given.

Thanks to my staff, my board, and to all of you for your partnership with me these past years.

May we faithfully continue to take up the challenge to follow! n The Rev. Judy Ganz retires as executive director of the Board of World Mission in December. She and her husband Charlie will be settling in Minnesota.

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IN OUR CONGREGATIONS

Churches come together to build “Welcome Kits” for Puerto Rican families

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few days after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in late September, a group of five people met at Edgeboro Moravian Church expecting to discuss some of the upcoming events taking place in the congregation’s ongoing food ministries. What came out of that conversation was an expressed desire to reach out to those directly impacted by the recent hurricanes and a loose plan on how to do so—send some kind of donation down to Puerto Rico.

Members from six congregations worked together to load “welcome kits” for those fleeing devastation in Puerto Rico

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The very next day, that plan had changed.

Local newspaper articles began appearing, saying people were fleeing Puerto Rico and coming to the Lehigh Valley. Pastors Tracy & Rhonda Robinson of Esperanza for Bethlehem, the Moravian Church’s Latino ministry on the south side of Bethlehem, were hearing the same things from people in their congregations. They expressed their need to help take care of the people who would be coming.

They recognized that Puerto Rican households in their community would soon be hosting extra people for an extended amount of time.

These households would quickly need extra hygiene, cleaning, and common household supplies to help those coming to the Lehigh Valley.

Just days later, several local Moravian congregations decided to help. Over the span of a month, supplies would be collected for the impacted households. At the end of that month, all donated items would then be taken to Esperanza where they would be sorted into “Welcome Kits” and dispersed to households as there is need.

Seven different Moravian congregations collected items; members from six of those congregations came to Esperanza on November 5 to take the project further. The worship service that evening became the service of organizing and packing items.

In total, 45 “Welcome Kits” were made— laundry baskets stuffed to the brim with different items including pillows, towels, bed linens, cleaning products, soap, personal hygiene products and more—but the results were more than that.

More items were donated than there was room for in the kits. Monetary donations were The Moravian

Pastor Dan Miller checks the contents of a welcome kit, while students from Lehigh Valley-area churches review their packing.

also made and used to purchase grocery gift cards—but the results were more than that.

Edgeboro Moravian Church incorporated an existing ministry into the night, too. In the past year, members at Edgeboro have been making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the local soup kitchen for individuals who eat lunch there to take with them as they leave.

Over 200 sandwiches were made that evening—but the results were more than that.

At the end of this two-hour event, it was not about how many kits or sandwiches were made. It was about the people. The relationships formed that night and the welcoming presence that was beginning to show as Moravians in the community will last much longer than any of the supplies collected. And that will need to last longer, because the ministry of welcoming is not over. More than 75 Puerto Rican children have already registered in Bethlehem Area Schools and that number is expected to rise.

As someone who participated and helped organize the effort, I had no idea what to expect. I did not know how many items we would Issue 9 2017

collect, exactly who we were collecting items for (after all, some are not even here yet), how many kits we would make, what the kit-packing event would look like, or how many people would show up to help. I knew there would be details that were given no thought and questions that were not going to be answered.

Things seemed to be unfolding so quickly because of our effort to make a timely response for when people would begin to arrive.

I was truly moved by the willingness of others to do something in the face of unanswered questions and unpredictable results. Yet that pales in comparison to the unknowns a nonEnglish speaking Puerto Rican child must be facing after losing their home and moving north. Keeping that in mind, I could not get the phrase that Jesus said to the sheep and the goats out of my head­—“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matt. 25:35). Quite often, I worried if this was going to be a sufficient welcome for people who had lost nearly everything. Would our meager offering be enough?

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At left: Pastor Tracy Robinson leads worship during the Sunday evening event to pack welcome kits. Below: Moravians from six congregations helping to prepare items for those coming from Puerto Rico.

I still have no idea, but what I witnessed that evening gave me hope. I witnessed basket after basket being filled with supplies, with extra supplies to spare. Seeing that made me think of something else in the gospel of Matthew involving Jesus, extra, and baskets…the feeding of the 5,000. We all know how that turned out…“all were filled.”

May Christ’s guidance and blessing be with us all in his Church as we continue to live and serve with faith, love and hope.

After the event, Pastor Tracy shared this: “Thank you so much for standing in the gap for all those who are in need. Thank you so much for starting this for us. We were feeling overwhelmed by the scope of the needs, and did not know what to do for our people on the island and here in the Lehigh Valley. However, you surely stepped up to the plate and hit a big home run. Our families are very grateful.

“It was so much joy for us to watch how things unfolded at Esperanza,” continued Tracy. “The gift of service that each church group brings is phenomenal and uplifting. My hope and prayers are that we would be able to do this again as the need arises. That we will continue to stand up together for a good cause that changes lives, and make a positive impact for Christ, not only to those who are the recipients, but also to us who are doing the services.

Thank you once more.”

Editor’s Note: Tracy estimates they have helped more than 80 people with resettlement needs. The local high schools are now recommending those registering for classes from Puerto Rico contact Esperanza for Bethlehem for assistance. The need continues, and the Robinsons would welcome any assistance. n The Rev. Dan Miller is pastor of Edgeboro Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pa. Photos

by Mike Riess, IBOC. 16

The Moravian

IN OUR CONGREGATIONS

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Christmas from Carolina to the Caribbean very year the New Philly Kids (our K-5th

grade youth group at New Philadelphia Moravian in Winston-Salem, N.C.) participates in the Operation Christmas Child project.

This year we wanted to more directly help our Moravian brothers and sisters who have been impacted by the hurricanes in the Caribbean.

With the help of the Board of World Mission and the Provincial Elders’ Conference of the Eastern West Indies, we made contact with Eulencine Christopher in St. Croix, who helped direct our efforts in the islands.

Beginning with the initial announcement about the project at New Philadelphia, there was great excitement! While there have been many necessary and worthy relief efforts and initiatives related to the 2017 hurricane devastation, there is just something special about putting in the work of your own hands; physically offering your help and care. Bags and boxes of items to be included in the Christmas boxes began showing up at the church.

On Sunday, Nov. 12th the New Philly Kids gathered to fill the empty boxes with tangible gifts of love. The children were very intent on packing a box that would be perfect for the child that received it, with thought and care given to what each child might need and want. At the end of the day, the New Philly Kids had 56 boxes for the Issue 9 2017

children of the Caribbean congregations!

However, with the vast challenges faced by our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean this Christmas, we believed we could offer more.

Other congregations and groups were invited to join New Philadelphia in this effort. Soon, boxes and items started pouring in! In addition to boxes for the children, we also asked for family boxes with food and household items.

Members of New Philadelphia Moravian, Friedberg Moravian, Peace Moravian, First Presbyterian of High Point, N.C., even a local retirement community, jumped at the opportunity to make Christmas special for those whose lives had been affected by the hurricanes this year.

So what was the end result? When the US Postal Service truck rolled away, it was packed to the brim with 135 boxes for children and 70 boxes of food and household supplies for families—a total of 205 boxes, sent with our love and prayers for our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean! n Evie Blum is director of Christian Education for New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. In photo above, New Philadelphia youth pack gifts into boxes for children in the Caribbean.

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MORAVIAN HISTORY

Comenius Learning Series lecture highlights leadership and contributions of early Moravian women

I

n November, more than 40 Moravians gathered at Calvary Moravian Church in Winston-Salem to hear Dr. Katherine Faull of Bucknell University share her insights into women’s leadership roles in the 18th century Moravian Church. Dr. Faull’s lecture, entitled “Leading the Way: Women in the Moravian Church Through the Centuries” is part of the Board of Cooperative Ministries’ ongoing Comenius Learning Series.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Faull translated and studied original documents from Moravian archives in Europe and North America relating to the roles of Choir Helpers in developing an awareness of spiritual growth.

She found that the Moravian Church has a “remarkable tradition of caring for all members at all stages of life.”

Early Moravian congregations were organized under what was called the Choir System.

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Realizing the value of group activities and interests, Moravians divided their congregations into groups called “choirs,” usually by gender, age and stage of life.

In her lecture, Dr. Faull discussed her work translating the original Instructions for Choir Helpers, which gave explicit direction for conducting “Speakings” between individual choir members and the Choir Helpers. These Speakings took place before Communion, and were private conversations between members and the Choir Helpers charged with their spiritual care.

The Choir Helpers’ instructions convey an amazingly holistic view of an individual’s soul as part of their body and vice versa. They display an unusual awareness of the importance of women’s bodies and concern for self-care.

They also highlight a care for and positive view of women outside of childbearing and childrearing roles, uncommon in the 18th century.

The Moravian

Studying Memoirs Dr. Faull also discussed her research on the vast collection of Lebensläufe, or memoirs, held in Moravian archives worldwide. This is an incredible historical resource due to its inclusiveness. The memoirs record everyone’s life story across cultures, classes and races, and represented an opportunity for individuals to say goodbye to their church. Count Zinzendorf saw the Lebensläufe as the history of the invisible church. Contained within them are realizations that people can have a direct impact on—and the ability to change their world, their community and their church. The monthly Speakings trained church members to see themselves as agents of change.

Dr. Faull also mentioned an effort now in progress to create a digital resource at MoravianLives.org. This website includes mapping functions as well as transcriptions of Lebensläufe. The mapping function creates a map of all of the places mentioned in an individual Lebenslauf to better visualize all of the places an individual travelled in their lifetime.

our Moravian history in the years following her and Zinzendorf’s deaths in an effort to dispel criticism of the leadership roles held by women within the Moravian church. During this Comenius Learning Series session, Dr. Faull helped shed new light on Nitschmann’s life.

In her lecture, Dr. Faull discussed how Nitschmann served as a religious leader in her own right and was thought of by her contemporaries as a theologian. Because of her particular skills and personality, Nitschmann was sent to America to speak to groups of Lutherans, Separatists, Quakers and others. She was commended for showing great bravery in the mission field and corresponded with leading pietist and mystcist theologians.

(Continued on page 21) At left: Katherine Faull speaks at the Comenius Learning Series event. Above: Participants discuss Faull’s lecture.

Below: reviewing a section in Faull’s latest book.

A view of Anna Nitschmann The group took a break to enjoy a delightful luncheon provided by Calvary Moravian Church, then reconvened to hear previously unknown details about the life of one female Moravian Leader, Anna Nitschmann.

According to Dr. Faull, many details of Anna Nitschmann’s life were scrubbed from Issue 9 2017

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BOOK REVIEW

Speaking to Body and Soul

Instructions for the Moravian Choir Helpers, 1785-1786

Edited and translated by Katherine M. Faull 2016, Penn State Press

What’s missing? This is a big question our church has been engaged with as we seek to define our mission, structure our organization, reach out in mission and invigorate the laity.

As we consider declining numbers and closing churches we ask ourselves: “What’s the problem? Why aren’t we growing the church the way our ancestors did in the 18th century?”

With Speaking to Body and Soul, Katherine Faull provides a big answer to these questions with her straightforward explanation of the 18th-century choir system and the translation of the instructions used to guide the anointed laity who implemented this high level of spiritual care among church members.

Comparing the 18th-century church with our modern church is, in many ways, like comparing apples and oranges. One reason is that the structure and the way our church “operates” is completely different today. What’s missing is Author Dr. Katherine Faull signs her book after her lecture.

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a functional choir system in which trained laity personally ministered to each member of the congregation during the 18th century, and through this intense spiritual care, essentially kept each member on track and “on fire” as they grew the church and spread their message across six continents.

Over the past 25 years Katherine Faull has brought Moravian history to light with the translation and analysis of many different archival records pertaining to Moravian women, Native Americans, and spiritual life. Speaking to Body and Soul may be her most important work yet in terms of practical usefulness to clergy and average church members alike, because it shows how each member was spoken to and effectively cared for in the past. It is an answer to keeping our laity engaged, maintaining spiritual energy and driving growth. And it starts with the complex challenge of keeping The Moravian

each member, in each stage of life, intensely focused on God. In the book’s introduction, Faull concisely explains the Moravian church’s evolution in the 18th century. Using historical context, she shows how church theology shaped particular church practices, such as the choir system.

What started as a grassroots effort of a few church members desiring to live and worship together soon morphed into an overarching system of spiritual care and church organization. In the following chapters, Faull translates the instructions provided to choir helpers in the 18th century, wonderfully individualized for each gender and stage of life: single sisters, single brothers, married persons and widows.

While considering both the spiritual and bodily concerns of each group the Instructions reveal just how well Moravians then understood human needs and the everyday “stuff” that impedes our walk with Christ. Faull’s translation retains the warm, simple nuance of the original text. What is striking in reading the instructions for each choir is the tone of respect and sensitivity delivered to each group in each station of life. From dealing with teenage angst to troubles between married couples to the loneliness of widowhood – the Instructions are remarkable for their modern, positive tone.

Individual spiritual formation should be our modern church’s number one priority as we define future goals. The acts of speaking to someone else about our spiritual lives and thoroughly examining our souls on a regular basis are almost completely lacking in the modern church. Faull shows in brilliant detail just how necessary this was to Moravians of old. They understood absolutely that the spiritual health of members perpetuated the health of the whole church. They understood that one’s relationship to Christ was the bedrock of church theology, that all else was sinking sand, and therefore placed utmost importance on Issue 9 2017

the care of souls. This book is a true blessing to our modern church as we seek to restore our bedrock.

Lanie Yaswinski was assistant archivist with the Northern Province Moravian Archives.

Speaking to Body and Soul is available at store.moravian.org.

Moravian Women (Continued from page 19)

Anna Nitschmann’s memoir did not appear in print until 80 years after her death. The handwritten copies in the Archives have been heavily marked out to erase her leadership role in the Moravian church of her day. But many letters still survive which document her role and influence. One of the hymns written

by Nitschmann reflects her view on the place of women in the Moravian Church.

“Like a Lamb in the home like a Lion when you roam.”

Understanding our history This Comenius Learning Series session helped participants recognize that sharing research about the instructions for Choir Helpers and memoirs of Moravian women from the past help us to not only understand our history, but also reflect on how that past has shaped our present—and how our understanding of the past can affect and change our future. By encouraging self-reflection and sharing, we help to build spiritual awareness in the church today. By recognizing and honoring the contributions of past Moravians, we teach our current and future members that they too have importance, no matter their age, stage of life or economic status. We too can change the world, our communities, and our church. n June Edwards is a member of Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. Photos

by Andrew David Cox. 21

As part of our ongoing series to share information about key Moravian theology and doctrine, we will be excerpting the Rev. Dr. C. Daniel Crews’ study, Confessing Our Unity in Christ: Historical and Theological Background to The Ground of the Unity. Originally written in 2000 and updated twice, this study looks at the theological and historical underpinnings of The Ground of the Unity, one of the Moravian Church’s core doctrinal statements.

Confessing Our Unity was originally published by the Southern Province Archives.

We thank Rev. Crews and Richard Starbuck, Southern Province archivist, for permission to excerpt this work.

In our last issue, we discussed the Synod of 1957 and the efforts to create the Ground of the Unity. In this final installment, we continue our coverage of the General Synod of 1957 and offer a conclusion about this important document.

Bishop Hamilton says of the whole section [of the Ground of the Unity] on “God’s Word and Doctrine”: In formulating the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, it seems to me that the Synod of 1957 held particularly closely to the thoughts contained in our former doc­trinal statement. The essential ideas in this paragraph are two: an unequivocal dependence of the Church upon the Holy Scriptures as 22

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Studying the historical and theological background to The Ground of the Unity

VICIT

Confessing Our Unity in Christ:

STER O

MORAVIAN DOCTRINE

GUS N N A

SE Q UA M

the source and touch­stone1 of the faith we hold, and the real­iza­tion that there are mysteries dealt with in the Bible which we can neither completely grasp nor satisfactorily formulate in our teaching. Moravians hold that God has spoken to man plainly enough for our needs, and that central in His Word stands the doctrine of the Saviour’s vicar­ ious death.2 “The Ground of the Unity” speaks of eternal things, but it is also very much grounded in the world in which we live, and is a product of its time. As always, Bishop Hamilton’s obser­va­ tions are instructive: Finally, “The Ground of the Unity” stresses the central im­portance of that service which the Church is called to render to its Lord and to its fellow-man. You will search in vain for any comparable emphasis in the parallel document of 1889. No doubt this feature reflects the tragic experiences of our Church and of all Christendom in the first half of the 20th Century, together with the deep consciousness of the failure of the Church to fulfill its function as Christ’s body on earth. It seems to me quite possible, however, that future Synods may judge that there is an overstress at this point and that it would be desirable for the Unity to underline other phases also of the mission of our Unity as a part of the Universal Church.3 The Moravian

In fact, changes have been made to “The Ground of the Unity.” The Unity Synod of 1981 added a section on “Personal Belief” and rearranged the second paragraph of the section on “God’s Word and Doctrine.”4 The most recent change came in 1995 when Unity Synod saw a need to state more precisely in the section on “God’s Word and Doctrine” what truly defines our life. Now it is not merely the “Holy Scriptures,” but “the Triune God as revealed in the Holy Scripture” who is “the only source of our life and salvation.” Having again proclaimed that the Word of the Cross is the center of Holy Scripture, the 1995 Synod added that “we look to two millennia of ecumenical Christian tradition and the wisdom of our Moravian forebears in the faith to guide us as we pray for fuller understanding and ever clearer proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion Thus “The Ground of the Unity” is printed in the Unity Book of Order as our church’s official statement on doctrine. As such, it stands in a long line of Moravian doctrinal state­ments over the centuries. In these, the church in each period of its history has sought to give expression in its own time to God’s eternal truth revealed for our salvation. The form, wording, and emphases may have varied, though we trust that the central core has remained firm.

In these doctrinal statements the same two themes appear, which Bishop Kenneth Hamilton found in “The Ground of the Unity.” First, the church has ever firmly fixed its doctrinal statements in Scripture as their starting point, whether it used the terms ground, rule, source, or “norm,” to quote Bishop Schweinitz on the first confession of the ancient Unity, or “touchstone,” as Kenneth Hamilton said of the last.

Second, they do not claim to be the immutable expression of all of theology for all time, and they affirm that dedicated Chris­tians may differ in their interpretation of specific Scriptural pas­sages. Yet these doctrinal statements do point people clearly, unequivocally, and unashamedly to Jesus Christ, our Savior and only Redeemer for all, and they insist that true faith must manifest itself in lives of loving service and humble yet joyful hope. As always, it is in our liturgies and hymns that these truths receive their most usual and public ex­pression.

We in our generation, like all generations of Moravians, must wrestle with how to live out our life in the Christ revealed through Scripture by divine grace. Also, as Bishop Hamilton implies above, future Unity Synods may choose to revise or rewrite completely our doctrinal statement again to highlight other aspects that need stress in their own time. As we have seen, that would be a very “Moravian” thing to do.

However this may be, I humbly trust and pray (Continued on next page)

Issue 9 2017

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Confessing (Continued on next page)

that the central focus of any future formulations will remain as ever before, firmly grounded in the conviction expressed also in “The Ground of the Unity”: With the whole of Christendom we share faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe and confess that God has revealed Himself once and for all in His Son Jesus Christ; that our Lord has redeemed us with the whole of humanity

by His death and His resurrection; and that there is no salvation apart from Him. We believe that He is present with us in the Word and the Sacrament; that He directs and unites us through His Spirit and thus forms us into a Church. We hear Him summoning us to follow Him, and pray Him to use us in His service. He joins us together mutually, so that knowing ourselves to be members of His body we become willing to serve each other.5 Or, as is so simply yet powerfully stated in the traditional words of our Lenten Liturgy: “Christ and Him crucified remain our confession of faith!”

(Endnotes) 1 This word “touchstone” seems to be a particularly apposite render­ing for the German “Richtschnur” used in earlier statements.

2 “Explanation,” p. 3.

3 “Explanation,” p. 1.

4 Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum, Herrnhut,1981, Part I, §4, pp. 11-12. See appendix for the full text.

5 Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum, Bethlehem, Pa.,1957, Part I, ¶2, p. 11, and Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum, Herrnhut,1981, Part I, §2, p. 11. The passage quoted is from a later printing.

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The Moravian

OFFICIAL PROVINCIAL ELDERS’ NEWS NORTHERN PROVINCE Nazareth, Pennsylvania Brother Garritt Fleming, who has been serving the Freedom Moravian Church, Appleton, Wis., and Sister Sanette Fleming have accepted the call to serve as pastors in team ministry for Schoeneck Moravian Church, Nazareth, Pa..

Brother and Sister Fleming will be installed January 21, 2018.

Nazareth, Pennsylvania Brother Jeffrey Gehris has accepted an appointment to continue as pastor for Nazareth Moravian Church, Nazareth, Pa. effective December 12, 2017. Br. Gehris retired from the active ministry of the church as of December 11, 2017.

Specialized Ministry Sister Jennifer Moran, who has been serving under temporary call to the Western District, has accepted a part-time call to Specialized Ministry as chaplain for Auburn Homes, Chaska, Minn. Sister Moran began her work November 13, 2017.

Elizabeth D. Miller Provincial Elders’ Conference

Correction

would be interested in getting all the Cherokee materials translated from German and published for a $25,000 per year contribution. Crews and Assistant Archivist Richard W. Starbuck would each spend two days per week on the project with an estimated value of $50,000 per year to get the first volumes of materials ready for publication. A five-year agreement was signed by both the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians so that each of them provided $25,000 per year for the five years.

The Cherokee Nation has continued their annual contribution since the expiration of the agreement so that the project could continue. Since 2008, the Archives’ Cherokee Fund, started at the instigation of Smith and Baker, has collected over $360,000 in contributions to produce the Records: Cherokees series.

In our article on the visit of Cherokee Nation officials to the Southern Province Archives in our previous issue (Cherokee Nation official tours Southern Province Archives in support of publication work, issue 8, p.7), we mistakenly ran an earlier revision of the story that included several errors.

The first involved the description of Anna Smith, a founder of the Cherokee-Moravian Historical Association. Anna’s ancestor, Chief Charles Renatus Hicks, was one of the first converts of the Moravians. She has done considerable research on the 11 Cherokee girls who attended Salem Academy.

In addition, the description of how the relationship with the Southern Province archives was revised. It should have read: Archivist [Daniel] Crews approached Smith and [Jack] Baker and asked if the Cherokee Nation

Issue 9 2017

These revisions were made to the online posting of this article. n

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Statistics of the Moravian Church Northern & Southern Provinces CF = Confirmed Communicants T = Total

AVG = Average Worship Attendance * = No membership statistics received for 2016

The Northern Province • Statistics December 31, 2016 Eastern District

CONGREGATION

CF

T

AVG

PASTOR 1

DIST. OF COLUMBIA Washington, Faith

143

187

95

Bevon White

MARYLAND New Carrollton, Trinity Thurmont, Graceham Upper Marlboro, St. Paul’s

117 269 133

162 326 170

52 91 54

Tammie L. Rinker Sue Koenig William T. Andrews

NEW JERSEY Cinnaminson, Palmyra Egg Harbor City Riverside, First Union, Battle Hill*

115 268 179 39

148 335 220 56

34 61 48 33

F. Jeffrey Van Orden Bruce Weaknecht Rebecca Sisley Michael Poole

NEW YORK Bronx, Tremont Terrace Brooklyn, Fellowship* Brooklyn, John Hus New York City, First New York City, United Queens, Grace Staten Island, Castleton Hill Staten Island, Great Kills Staten Island, New Dorp Staten Island, Vanderbilt Ave.

123 66 275 101 454 206 176 115 241 84

141 116 335 122 804 366 242 152 255 114

67 51 226 45 138 145 52 36 90 41

Desna Henry Goulbourne Wellesley Ferguson Michael E. Johnson Charles C. Harewood Nigel Powell Earl Goulbourne Lance Fox Tracy A. Pryor Duane E. Ullrich Wellesley Ferguson

OHIO Dover, First Dublin, Redeemer Gnadenhutten, Heckewelder New Phila., Fry’s Valley New Phila., Schoenbrunn Tuscarawas, Sharon Uhrichsville, First

499 50 279 76 83 295 77

589 60 318 90 104 353 86

161 18 55 29 51 69 32

John B. Wallace Trina Holmberg Darrell F. Johnson Christine S. Johnson Benjamin Lippert Lloyd Gooden Vacant

ONTARIO Toronto, New Dawn

121

155

102

F. Rowan Simmons

These statistics of the Moravian Church in America are reprinted from the 2018 Directory & Statistics of the Moravian Church. Church membership numbers are those reported effective Dec. 31, 2016.

(1) Pastor listings represent those serving in individual churches during 2016; some church pastorate listings were updated in 2017, but the updates are not comprehensive.

26

The Moravian

PENNSYLVANIA Allentown, Calvary Bethlehem, Advent Bethlehem, Central

181 287 827

211 344 986

70 82 358

Bethlehem, College Hill Bethlehem, East Hills Bethlehem, Edgeboro Bethlehem, West Side Canadensis* Coopersburg, MorningStar Easton, First Easton, Palmer Township Emmaus Hellertown, Mountainview Lancaster Lebanon Lititz

250 324 336 131 41 140 149 553 447 113 71 108 690

281 373 426 147 54 169 184 699 522 134 79 150 800

86 117 115 40 16 26 41 163 123 22 33 53 256

Nazareth Nazareth, Schoeneck Newfoundland Philadelphia, Redeemer Reading* York, Covenant York, First

400 398 92 76 76 133 98

513 452 107 83 137 149 118

101 154 32 47 36 65 55

10,505 13,124

3,967

TOTALS

Janel R. Rice Laura Gordon C. Hopeton Clennon, M. Lynnette Delbridge David C. Geyer Derek A. French Daniel M. Miller Keith K. Harke Vacant Jay Petrella Patricia D. Honszer Melissa L. Johnson J. Christian Giesler Jodie Lean Harney Vacant Vacant Mark V. Breland Dean R. Jurgen Jeffrey D. Gehris, Sr. Vacant Vacant Nasel Ephraim Ronald Rice John Fritts Sayward E. Lippincott

Western District CALIFORNIA Banning, Morongo

86

122

32

Gregg Schafer

ILLINOIS West Salem

224

277

89

Reid Lauderman

INDIANA Hope

373

503

198

Andrew Kilps

MICHIGAN Daggett Unionville Westland, Grace

36 203 36

43 239 37

20 63 27

James T. Hicks Jane Gehler Vacant

116 130 94 30 104 92 323

146 156 128 30 129 104 395

72 80 54 18 44 47 102

MINNESOTA Altura, Our Savior’s* Chaska Maple Grove, Christ’s Com. Northfield, Main Street St. Charles, Berea Victoria, Lake Auburn Waconia Issue 9 2017

Gregory Behrend Michael Eder Jennifer Moran Vacant Franklin Jones Brian R. Dixon Amy Gohdes-Luhman 27

NORTH DAKOTA Davenport, Canaan Durbin, Goshen Fargo, Shepherd of the Prairie Leonard, Bethel

127 118 70 81

152 153 89 99

42 27 36 20

Beth Rohn-Habhegger Vacant Eric D. Renner Vacant

WISCONSIN Appleton, Freedom Cambridge, London DeForest, Christian Faith Ephraim Green Bay, West Side Lake Mills Madison, Glenwood Madison, Lakeview Pittsville, Veedum Sister Bay Sturgeon Bay Watertown, Ebenezer Watertown Wisconsin Rapids

126 91 120 140 231 545 75 108 44 115 558 170 216 258

148 104 146 148 310 623 90 117 54 124 625 198 269 292

47 30 42 80 73 132 29 37 24 68 121 60 83 100

Garritt Fleming Barbara Berg Jason Andersen Dawn E. Volpe Marian Boyle Rohloff David W. Sobek Katie Van Der Linden Staci Marrese-Wheeler Wanda Veldman Kerry D. Krauss Matthew R. Knapp Vacant Kurt Liebenow Mary Louise Plummer

5,040

6,050

1,897

TOTALS

Canadian District ALBERTA Calgary, Christ Calgary, Good Shepherd Edmonton Edmonton, Millwoods Edmonton, Rio Terrace Sherwood Park, Good News Leduc County, Heimtal TOTALS

140 135 90 103 110 35

229 157 110 107 149 48

110 58 38 64 52 28

35

37

21

648

837

371

Stephen A. Gohdes Richard Beck Rebecca Craver Vacant James Lavoy Ian D. Edwards Eileen Edwards Matthew J. Gillard

Northern Province Recapitulation Eastern District Western District Canadian District

CF 10,505 5,040 648

T 13,124 6,050 837

AVG 3,967 1,897 371

Total Province 2016 Total Province 2015

16,193 16,545

20,011 20,526

6,235 6,487

-352

-515

-252

Increase/Decrease

*Not Available for 2016 28

The Moravian

The Southern Province • Statistics December 31, 2016 Congregation FLORIDA Longwood, Rolling Hills Miami, King of Kings* New Hope* Prince of Peace West Palm Beach, Palm Beach* GEORGIA Stone Mountain, First Church* NORTH CAROLINA Advance, Macedonia Bethania Charlotte, Little Church on the Lane Peace Clemmons Durham, Christ the King Eden, Leaksville Greensboro, First Church Huntersville, New Beginnings Kernersville, Kernersville King Lewisville, Unity Lexington, Enterprise Mayodan Mount Airy, Grace Newton, New Hope Oak Ridge, Moravia Raleigh Rural Hall Mizpah Rural Hall Walnut Cove, Fulp Wilmington, Covenant Winston-Salem, Advent Ardmore Bethabara Bethesda Calvary Christ Fairview Issue 9 2017

CF

T

AVG

PASTOR 1 Wilma E. Israel

95

110

64

56 75 367 26

97 83 511 41

55 54 221 34

79

79

55

Stephen Weisz, Interim

215 232

215 263

73 94

Zachary Dease David Merritt

206 79 495 130 81 213 175 482 338 204 40 124 353 104 118 421

255 88 531 190 88 264 215 565 396 204 50 154 411 129 132 487

70 40 196 145 45 71 78 196 150 80 30 53 134 60 60 160

Jeff Carter Rusty Rushing, Interim Q. Ray Burke Francis P. Venable Robert E. Peterson Tony Hayworth Christopher C. Thore John G. Rights Vacant Barry Foster Roger Kimball, Interim Vacant Neil Routh Betty Helms Carol Foltz, Interim Craig S. Troutman

121 237 147 94

138 280 176 116

49 100 75 35

John Rainey Aaron Linville Vacant Rachel Connelly

244 177 96 24 335 230 292

290 195 104 24 434 272 308

131 83 35 17 156 96 143

Timothy G. Sapp Arkon Stewart, Interim Jeffrey Jones Richard G. Spaugh Lane A. Sapp David A. Marcus, Jr. C. Scott Venable III

Vacant Vacant Joseph E. Nicholas Frank Barker, Interim

29

Friedberg

884

1,050

353

Friedland Fries Memorial Home

450 116 1,199

543 133 1,480

154 52 271

Hope Hopewell Immanuel New Eden Konnoak Hills Messiah New Philadelphia Oak Grove Olivet Pine Chapel Providence St. Philips Trinity Union Cross

125 117 58 220 132 1,091 132 511 86 19 37 214 269

157 157 60 253 155 1,303 167 583 96 19 45 231 325

71 67 34 93 75 417 95 166 49 18 20 86 167

70

84

65

Chuck Harmon, Acolyte

43 64

57 76

46 49

Gary Easter, Acolyte Charles W. Fishel

VIRGINIA Ararat, Willow Hill* Cana, Crooked Oak Mt. Bethel

James C. Newsome Dan Nelson Wayne Byerly, Interim Joseph L. Moore Richard L. Sides Virginia Tobiassen Andrew Heil Walter Bishop Cheryl Cottingham John D. Rights Gerald Harris, Interim Worth N. Green David Berrier, Interim Matthew W. Allen James Demby Robert Peek Russell May John P. Jackman Russell Williams

Southern Province Recapitulation Total Dec. 31, 2016 Dec. 31, 2015 Increase/Decrease

CF

T

AVG

12,542 12,734

14,869 15,143

5,486 5,676

-192

-274

-171

* Not available for 2016.

Statistical Summary of the Sunday Church Schools December 31, 2016 Northern Province: Eastern District Western District Canadian District Totals: Northern Province: Southern Province: Grand Total 30

Pupils

Staff

Totals

1,601 841 75

327 157 11

1,928 998 86

2,517 3,551 6,068

495 599 1,094

3,012 4,150 7,162 The Moravian

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Issue 9 • 2017

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