Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The Hinge


One of the early offices of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pa. was that of the Hinge. This was someone whose task was to examine “everything and bring troublesome factors within the congregation into mutual accord without their first having to be taken up publicly in the congregation council.”

     -- (September 1742, The Bethlehem Diary, vol. 1, tr. by Kenneth Hamilton, p. 80).

I find the above language interesting and the concept of the Hinge insightful. The quote seems to have had each word chosen with care. This produced a single sentence packed with holy and practical concepts.

Do you think your local church would benefit from a Hinge? Is this a dated concept or it is contemporaneous in all eras of the church’s life?

As for me? I believe “the Moravian past is the key to the Moravian future.”  I am wondering if you the reader are catching that vision?