Quote: Count Zinzendorf on mission theory

Count Zinzendorf, an early leader of the Moravians, held this view. ”Missions, after all, is simply this: Every heart with Christ is a missionary, every heart without Christ is a mission field.”

What if anything, does the contemporary Christian church have to learn? 

Self-denial, Sacrifice and Prompt Obedience

The great 18th century leader of the Moravians, Zinzendorf, displayed a passion for Jesus. So also did his ardor for the lost. Parenthetically, does the contemporary Christian church in the West use the word "lost"? 

Count Zinzendorf became determined to evangelize the world with a handful of saints, equipped only with a burning love for Jesus and the power of prayer. The Moravian Brotherhood readily received and perpetuated the passion of their leader. 

A seal was designed to express their new found missionary zeal. (see the seal above) The seal was composed of a lamb on a crimson ground, with the cross of resurrection and a banner of triumph with the motto; “Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him.” It is not uncommon to see this emblem on automobiles in the Winston-Salem area.

The Moravians recognized themselves in debt to the world as the trustees of the gospel. They were taught to embrace a lifestyle of self-denial, sacrifice and prompt obedience. I suggest the contemporary church desperately needs to reclaim the concepts of "self-denial", "sacrifice" and "obedience" Agree?

These early Moravians followed the call of the Lamb to go anywhere and with an emphasis upon the worst and hardest places as having the first claim. No soldiers of the cross have ever been bolder as pioneers, more patient or persistent in difficulties, more heroic in suffering, or more entirely devoted to Christ and the souls of men than the Moravian Brotherhood. What a magnificent thing to be able to say about the church of Jesus Christ. 

From the Diary - 70 soldiers

"In the afternoon more than 70 soldiers arrived, passing through our neighborhood on their way to join the Army which is gathering on the frontier to meet the Indians. 

They camped about a half a mile from town on the road to Friedberg and stayed for two

days, during which time they made many visits to the town, but their behavior was quiet and orderly. The officers took up their quarters in our Tavern. 

On Wednesday morning they marched away, through our town and through Bethabara."  -- Diary entry for January 20, 1793.

Image - Two 18th century hats and one bag at the Tavern in Old Salem

Advent I - The Moravian Star

Below: Short YouTube video about the Moravian Star

During the Advent and Christmas seasons, many families decorate their homes with a Moravian star. The Moravian star as with so many Moravian traditions has a rich history.

The Moravian star originated in Saxony, Germany. The stars were first used to demonstrate geometry to boys attending the Moravian school. The stars were quickly adopted by the Moravian Church as a symbol of the birth of Jesus and represented the star of Bethlehem. Traditionally, the star is hung the first Sunday of Advent and remains up until Epiphany, January 6, or the time of the coming of the Magi.

The first documented Christmas tree at Williamsburg, Virginia, was decorated with Moravian stars in 1842 by a German immigrant who taught at the College of William and Mary. 

Moravian stars range from six points to over 100, but the traditional Moravian star has 26 points. Today, the Abraham Durninger Company in Herrnhut, Germany, continues the time-honored custom of selling hand-made Moravian stars from their factory. Many innovations in the styles, sizes, and colors of the stars have been created over the years. 

The Moravian star continues to represent the holiday season for Moravians and non-Moravians across the world.

Why Pennsylvania was a natural home for the earliest North American Moravians

Pennsylvania was an attractive settling place for the earliest North American Moravians. Rode Island and Pennsylvania were the only American colonies to establish freedom of religion in their respective constitutions. 

William Penn sought out persecuted Protestants in Europe. This in part explains explains why Pennsylvania was the most religiously diverse of the colonies in North America -and- attractive to the Moravians.

Roughly 100,000 Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania in the first and second quarters of the eighteenth century. About 3,200 of the immigrants were from persecuted Christian expressions. The 3,200 of course included the Moravians that established Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and surrounding Moravian communities. God had provided. 

Theory behind a proposed layout of Salem

"The entire length of this place (Salem) does not amount to half a mile so that no one would have to walk more than a quarter of a mile or more than five minutes at a leisurely pace to attend the meetings of the congregation." -- Notes on a map of the proposed Salem Square by mapmaker Christian Gottlieb Reuter, July 1765.

Home Moravian Church
Old Salem, NC

The Moravian church, in Salem, would eventually be called Home Church. The distance to it from various points in Salem figured into the decision about the town layout. 

Moravians and the American Revolution

At the early ramping up to the American Revolution the Moravians in America sought to be both passive and aloof from the beating war drums. They were, after all, pacifists - but not totally. They did own guns for defense from robbers, Indians and wild animals. But they rejected participation in warfare against an army.

With the war at their doorstep they placed their fate in the hands of their Lord and Savior - Jesus. The Salem Diary captures this spirit well. Consider:

They praised “the many instances of His wonderful help, counsel and direction in the past year. Had he not been this to us, had the Guardian of Israel not watched over us and turned aside the evil which the enemy planned against us, we would have perished.”

The Salem Diary in 1776 read: “We must say with truth and humility that our dear Lord has not only lightened the heavy load, but when misfortune and harm was (sic) threatening, He either turned it aside or made it work to our advantage.”

These early Moravians were clear about what they should do - they must follow and obey their earthly ruler as Scripture teaches. The Moravians would comply with whoever made up the rightful government be it King George or the Colonial government.

Image - The Choir System

Before coming to the New World Moravians in Herrnhut, Saxony, found that believers who share the same situation often develop a strong bond that provides encouragement and support to all. 

A Sister at the Miksch House
Old Salem.
Note the blue ribbon indicating her choir,
the Married Sister's choir. 

This led to the organization of Moravian believers into unique groups called choirs. The word “choir” does not indicate a singing function but simply means "group". Life in some of the choirs was communal. Choir members ate, worked, worshiped, slept in dormitories, and attended school together.

Choirs were established according to age, gender, and marital status. Generally, each choir had a leader that cared for the spiritual welfare of the group. Count Zinzendorf saw the value of having group interests and activities, and he felt that the teachings of Christ would have more significance when applied to individuals of the same sex, age and marital status. 

All Moravian communities did not follow exactly the same

An unknown Sister.
Note the pink ribbon indicating
her choir,
the Single Sister's Choir

organizational blueprint. Generally, though, early Moravian children remained with their parents during infancy, but at the age of 18 months they began to be cared for in nurseries. Boys and girls lived together in the nursery until they turned four, when they became members of the Little Boys' Choir or the Little Girls' Choir. From ages 12 to 19, girls and boys belonged to the Older Girls' Choir or the Older Boys' Choir. From age 19 until marriage, the women belonged to the Single Sisters' Choir and the men belonged to the Single Brethren Choir. Married adults lived in the Married Peoples' Choir. 

Ribbons worn in the white cap, or haube, of females reveal the wearer's status and to which choir they belonged: blue ribbons being worn by married women pink by unmarried girls and women, red by little girls, and white by widows. 

Photo: Sisters at the Single Brother's House

Moravian sisters chatting in front of the Single Brother's House, Old Salem, NC. Watercolors.

Image - The 1766 Builder's House

The 1766 Builder's House
The beginning of Salem

On January, 6, 1766 twelve brothers came from the Moravian villages of Bethabara and Bethania to the newly chosen site for the town of Salem. On this January date they felled the first tree used in the construction of the Builders House. 

The Builder's House was built unsurprisingly to house the men who build the first homes in Salem. 

The log cabin known as the "Builders House" stood from 1766 to 1907 when it was torn down.