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"We are called into a Christian fellowship by the Lord Jesus Christ." Covenant for Christian Living So begins the Moravian Covenant for Christian Living. In the Moravian Church a sense of community is important and in a very real sense, relationships define us. Christ joins us together mutually, and as one body with many members we respond to his call to serve humanity and proclaim the gospel. That call is the source of our being and the inspiration of our ministry. The Covenant for Christian Living is the contemporary expression of an agreement made among Moravians on May 12 in 1727, a year of remarkable spiritual renewal for the Moravian Church. That renewal experience continues to bear fruit today. For example, strong bonds of fellowship and common allegiance to Christ as Lord emerged from that renewal, and they provide a firm foundation for overcoming division. The Moravian Church draws on this resource when, like most churches today, it wrestles with differences and disagreements. Conferential System The closely-knit community and deep personal relationships born in that experience have shaped the Moravian Church in other ways as well. Authority and decision-making are vested more in leadership teams than in individuals. Moravians refer to their "conferential" system of leadership and government. The system seeks to avoid the dangers of a highly centralized and authoritarian government while maintaining the close ties that independent and congregational churches sometimes miss. Soon after 1727 the community began sending missionaries to indigenous people in America, Labrador and Greenland, the West Indies, South America, the Middle East, and several regions of Africa. Often the missionaries lived a lifestyle of poverty in common with those whom they served. Their humble service produced thriving churches in many of those areas. Today only about 10% of Moravians worldwide live in Europe and North America, and the worldwide Moravian Unity is still permeated by a deep sense of mission. The largest and most rapidly growing region of the Church is in Tanzania, East Africa. Moravian Motto Since the earliest days of the Moravian Church in the 15th century we have lived in the spirit of the motto "In essentials unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things love." The Moravian Church affirms basic beliefs held in common with all Christian Churches, and it accepts the primary creeds of the Christian Church (such as the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, the Augsburg Confession). The Moravian Church practices infant baptism as a way of expressing an emphasis on God's grace, God's initiative to bring salvation, hope, and freedom to us. In general the Church emphasizes the Lordship of Jesus Christ and other essential Christian doctrines, but resists lengthy doctrinal exposition. For example, Moravians affirm the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of Holy Communion (the Eucharist), but do not seek to explain the nature of his presence. Scripture The Bible is central to the life of the Moravian Church. The Church affirms that "the Triune God as revealed in the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the only source of our life and salvation; and this Scripture is the sole standard of the doctrine and faith, of the Unitas Fratrum and therefore shapes our life." Moravian Music Moravian Church life is thoroughly musical, and the Church's theology is expressed as clearly in its hymns and liturgies as it is anywhere. In a service of Holy Communion hymns are typically sung as the elements are distributed. A favorite Moravian service, almost exclusively hymn singing, is the lovefeast or agape service. During this service a simple meal (such as a bun or sweet roll and beverage) is served to each person present and, on Christmas Eve, lighted candles distributed to all. |
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