DWTX from Anaheim - On Friday, July 10, the General Convention House of Bishops passed resolution A073 that calls for full communion between The Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church in North America, Northern and Southern Provinces. The agreement commits the two churches to an interchangeable ministry. “This is not a merger or organic union,” according to information from the Episcopal Church Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, but is a “relationship” whereby each church could exchange priests and bishops. Although the Moravian Church recognizes the three orders of deacon, presbyter, and bishop, deacons of the two churches would not be interchangeable because of the understanding of that order by the Moravian Church.
Passing the agreement would be the first time three churches (The Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Moravian Church) have entered into full communion on the basis of separately-negotiated concordats of full communion.
Moravians in America are part of a worldwide Christian communion formally known as as the Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of the Brethren. It was established in 1457 in what is now the Czech Republic but because of persecution found refuge on the estate of German nobleman Ludwig von Zinzendorf. In the 1700s they went through a rebirth and grew into a global communion. Because they had fled from what was then Moravia, they were known as the Moravian Brethren.
In the United State, Moravians are concentrated in Eastern Pennsylvania and North Carolina. There is also a significant Moravian presence in Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, and Minnesota. The membership in the church worldwide is about 700,000 in 19 semi-autonomous provinces. In the U. S. they number about 50,000 under the care of 220 pastors.
The Moravian Church is creedal and liturgical, believing in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and practicing infant and adult baptism.
The full communion agreement must also be adopted by the Moravian Church provincial synods meeting in 2010.
Tags: Communion, Moravian, Resolutions
Don’t leave out the Moravian Czech communities that populate the Blackland Prarie of Texas — from south of Dallas to north of Victoria. A pretty significant group in our State’s history and culture. They continue to play a significant role in that rich farming area.