Church History · 1457
The Moravian Church Is Founded
In 1457 followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia formed the Unity of the Brethren, one of the oldest Protestant churches. Nearly wiped out by persecution, it was reborn at Herrnhut in Germany in 1727, where a prayer meeting ran around the clock for about a hundred years and launched a missionary movement that touched John Wesley.
Read it in the Bible: Leviticus 6:13 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Revelation 5:9 Matthew 28:19
The Moravian Church began in 1457, when a group of followers of Jan Hus gathered in the village of Kunvald in Bohemia and formed the Unity of the Brethren. That makes it one of the oldest Protestant churches in the world, sixty years older than Luther's 95 Theses. After being nearly wiped out by persecution, the church was reborn in 1727 at Herrnhut in Germany. There a revival broke out, a prayer meeting began that ran around the clock for about a century, and ordinary believers set out as missionaries to the ends of the earth. Their faith deeply affected John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
How Did the Unity of the Brethren Begin?
After Jan Hus was burned in 1415, his followers in Bohemia split into several groups. Some fought wars. Others wanted a quieter path. A teacher named Peter Chelcicky taught that Christians should live simply, love their enemies, and follow the Sermon on the Mount. Inspired by him, a man known as Brother Gregory led a small community to settle at Kunvald in 1457.
They called themselves the Unitas Fratrum, Latin for Unity of the Brethren. In 1467 they chose their own ministers, setting up a church apart from Rome. They stressed holy living, discipline, education and the Bible in the people's own language. Their translators later produced the Kralice Bible, the classic Czech Bible. You can read the background in the Jan Hus article on this site.
Why Is It Called the Moravian Church?
Moravia is a region next to Bohemia, in today's Czech Republic. After 1620, when Catholic forces won the Battle of White Mountain, Protestant churches in these lands were crushed during the Thirty Years' War. The last bishop of the old Unity, the great educator John Amos Comenius, lived in exile and prayed that a hidden seed of the church would one day grow again.
About a century later, some of that hidden seed fled from Moravia into Germany. Because the refugees came from Moravia, people called them Moravians, and the name stuck. The church's official name is still the Unity of the Brethren.
What Happened at Herrnhut in 1727?
In 1722 a carpenter named Christian David led a small group of refugees to the estate of a young nobleman, Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf, in Saxony. Zinzendorf was a devout Lutheran who wanted to help. The refugees built a village called Herrnhut, which means under the Lord's watch.
Other people came too, and soon the village was full of arguments between different Christian groups. Zinzendorf went house to house, prayed with people, and drew up an agreement on how they would live together in love. Then, on August 13, 1727, during a communion service at the nearby church in Berthelsdorf, the community felt the Holy Spirit move powerfully among them. Old grudges melted. Moravians often call that day their Pentecost.
What Was the Moravian 100 Year Prayer Meeting?
Two weeks later, on August 27, 1727, twenty four men and twenty four women each agreed to pray for one hour a day, so that someone would be praying at every hour of the day and night. Others joined. That prayer watch continued, without stopping, for more than a hundred years. The Moravians liked to point to a verse about the fire on the altar.
The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished. Leviticus 6:13
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Many modern prayer movements, including round the clock prayer rooms, look back to Herrnhut as their inspiration.
Were the Moravians the First Protestant Missionaries?
They were not quite the very first. A few Protestant missionaries had gone out before them, such as Lutheran missionaries to India in 1706. But the Moravians were the first Protestant church to make missions the work of the whole community. In 1732 two young men, Leonard Dober, a potter, and David Nitschmann, a carpenter, sailed to the Danish island of Saint Thomas in the Caribbean to bring the gospel to enslaved Africans. Soon Moravians were in Greenland, North America, South Africa, Suriname and beyond.
Most of them were ordinary working people who supported themselves with their trades. They were tent makers like Paul. By the end of the century the little village had sent out hundreds of missionaries. Their motto was that the Lamb who was slain should receive the reward of His suffering.
Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Revelation 5:9
How Did the Moravians Influence John Wesley?
In 1736 a young Anglican priest named John Wesley was sailing to Georgia when a terrible storm hit. The English passengers screamed in fear. A group of Moravians calmly sang hymns. Wesley was amazed. He realized they had a peace with God that he lacked.
Back in London in 1738, a Moravian named Peter Boehler counseled him to trust Christ alone by faith. On May 24, 1738, at a meeting on Aldersgate Street, while someone read Luther's preface to Romans, Wesley wrote in his journal that he felt his heart strangely warmed and knew that Christ had taken away his sins. From that night came the Methodist movement. See the Methodists article on this site.
Why It Matters for You Today
The Moravian Church is still active around the world today, with large communities in Africa and the Caribbean, and historic towns like Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Winston Salem, North Carolina, in the United States. Their Daily Texts, a book of a verse a day first published in 1731, are still read by millions.
The story of Herrnhut shows what God can do with a small group of refugees who stop arguing, start praying, and say yes to His call. They had no fame and no money, only prayer and a love for the Lamb.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19
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Questions People Ask
When was the Moravian Church founded?
The Moravian Church traces its founding to 1457, when followers of Jan Hus formed the Unity of the Brethren at Kunvald in Bohemia. It was renewed in 1727 at Herrnhut in Saxony, Germany, under Count Zinzendorf.
What was the Moravian prayer meeting that lasted 100 years?
On August 27, 1727, twenty four men and twenty four women at Herrnhut agreed to pray in hourly shifts so that prayer never stopped. The prayer watch continued for more than a hundred years.
Who were the first Moravian missionaries?
In 1732 Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann sailed to the Caribbean island of Saint Thomas to share the gospel with enslaved Africans. They were the first of hundreds of Moravian missionaries sent out in the 1700s.
How did the Moravians influence John Wesley?
Wesley was moved by the calm faith of Moravians during a storm at sea in 1736. In 1738 the Moravian Peter Boehler counseled him, and soon after, at a meeting on Aldersgate Street, Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed, the start of the Methodist revival.
Related
- 1415Jan Hus Is Burned at the Stake
- 1738John Wesley and the Methodists
- 1730s to 1740sThe First Great Awakening
- 1792William Carey and the Modern Missions Movement