Moravian History
The Origins of Moravians
Image:http://zinzendorf.com/pages/
The Moravian Church has been around for over 500 years. Moravians are originally from ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic (“A brief history,”). The name Moravian comes from their denominations original birth place of Moravia. They came to have this name when they were forced to leave Moravia and the surrounding areas because of persecution from the Roman Catholic Church. Persecution led the Moravians to flee to Germany where that took up residence in a place known as Herrnhut. Herrnhut was a Moravian community built by Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a pietist nobleman from Saxony, Germany. Moravians were able to stay here for many years. They started churches and sent out some of the first Moravians missionaries to other countries to spread the gospel. The Moravian missionaries began to spread the Moravian Church all over the world. Moravians began to have churches and settlements in place such as Greenland, Holland, and the United States of America. The Moravian Church firsts attempt to make a settlement in America began in 1735 in Georgia. Unfortunately, their attempt was unsuccessful and the Moravian Church moved its community to Pennsylvania in 1741. The Moravian Church purchased land from the estate of George Whitefield and established the settlement of Bethlehem that very same year. Many other Moravian congregations began to take up residence in also in Pennsylvania as well as New Jersey and Maryland. “Bethlehem became the center of Moravian activity in colonial America”("A brief history,"/ "Timeline: 550 years,").
Moravians in North Carolina
Image:
http://www.carolana.com/NC/Towns/Bethabara_NC.html
As the Moravian Church began to flourish in the Northern part of America, some congregations started to make their way South towards North Carolina. In 1753, a Moravian congregation purchased land in North Carolina and called it Wachovia. From this land, the Moravians established Bathabara. Bathabara is located in what is known today as Winston-Salem. “In 1857 the two American provinces, North and South, became largely independent and set about expansion. Bethlehem in Pennsylvania and Winston-Salem in North Carolina became the headquarters of the two
provinces, North and South ("A brief history,")." Both the northern and southern provinces grew and started to build new settlements and churches into the place where we can still find the Moravian Church today. ("A brief history,"/ "Timeline: 550 years,")
provinces, North and South ("A brief history,")." Both the northern and southern provinces grew and started to build new settlements and churches into the place where we can still find the Moravian Church today. ("A brief history,"/ "Timeline: 550 years,")