The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Sawyer elected as President of Unity Board for the World-wide Moravian Church

The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Sawyer was recently elected as President of the Unity Board for the worldwide Moravian Church. The two-year term began January 1, 2005. Prior to his election the Rev. Sawyer served for four years as vice-president of the Unity Board. He succeeds outgoing president, the Rev. Angetile Musomba, of Tanzania.

The Unity Board consists of one member from each of the sixteen member provinces and three affiliated provinces. These provinces include the Czech Province, the European Continental Province, the Eastern West Indies Province, the Suriname Province, the Southern Africa Province, the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in North America, the British Province, the Jamaican Province, the Nicaraguan Province, the Alaskan Province, the Honduran Province, and the Southern, Western, Southwestern, and Rukwa Tanzanian Provinces. The affiliated provinces are the Labrador Province, the Guyana Province, and the Costa Rica Province. Some of the responsibilities of the Board include: upholding and furthering the development of the Unity in all parts of the world; deciding upon questions presented before it by the Unity Synod, the Regional Conferences, the Provincial Boards, and the Moravian Church Foundation; carrying out all tasks given to it by the Unity Synod, acting as the decision-making body on behalf of the Unitas Fratrum during the inter-Synodal periods; and holding and administering the funds and property of the Unitas Fratrum.

About the work of the Unity Board and the church Rev. Sawyer states: “As a worldwide church with nineteen richly diverse provinces, we have pledged ourselves to a ministry of mutual guidance and accountability. We need to continue to give attention to the spirit and the reality of that pledge. We also have a long history of ministering in the difficult places where other churches have not gone. I hope the Unity Board will continue to look for the places where human need is greatest.”

The Rev. Sawyer, President of the Provincial Elders’ Conference, South, Moravian Church in North America, graduated from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1964, and received his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1967. He also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from New York Theological Seminary, New York, New York. The Rev. Sawyer was ordained a Deacon in 1967 and consecrated a Presbyter in 1974. He has served congregations in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina. He and his wife, Jill, are the parents of two sons, Justin Brian and Scott Robert. Rev. Sawyer will maintain his duties as President of the Provincial Elders’ Conference, South, in addition to his position on the Unity Board.

The Moravian Church was founded in Bohemia more than 500 years ago and at that time was officially called the Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of the Brethren, which remains the church’s official name today. The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations dating back to 1457. Moravians have a strong tradition of ecumenical work and are known for their missionary work and rich musical heritage. The Moravian Church in North America is comprised of the Northern and Southern Provinces. The Northern Province has approximately 28,000 members in 102 congregations in 13 states in the U.S. and two Canadian provinces. The Southern Province includes nearly 20,000 members in 58 congregations, which are located primarily throughout the Southeast. Moravians now number more than 789,000 worldwide and are spread across five continents and more than 20 jurisdictional provinces.