Northern Province Installs Archivist — Dr. Paul M. Peucker

Dr. Paul M. Peucker was installed as archivist of the Northern Province on Sunday, April 18, 2004. The installation was held in Prosser Auditorium of the Haupert Union Building on the Moravian College campus, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The installation was followed by a reception in the Archives building which is located at the edge of the campus.

Peter Wolle, president of the Archives Board of Directors, presided and introduced representatives of the Northern Provincial Elders’ Conference and the Bethlehem Area Moravians (BAM) who brought greetings. The two organizations jointly own the Archives and appoint eight of the twelve members of the Board of Directors. John McKeown, president of BAM, concluded his greetings by presenting a $10,000 contribution to the Archives to mark the occasion.

Peucker addressed the gathering on “The Fascination of Moravian History,” tracing the story of archival collections in the worldwide Unity and discussing the role of the archives in today’s church. He noted his dream to have the entire collection cataloged and available online “in a few years.” He spoke of linking the Bethlehem search system with that of other Moravian archives in the world. His address echoed the prayer of the Rev. Dr. Douglas Caldwell, Central Church pastor, “that he be able to guide others to discover and be inspired to create new stories of faith.” The program concluded with the benediction by Bishop M. Blair Couch.

Paul Peucker is a native of Zeist, the Netherlands, where he grew up in the Moravian congregation. His doctoral dissertation ‘s Heerendijk Herrnhuters in Ijsselstein 1736-1770 was accepted by the Rijksuniversiteit at Utrecht in 1991. Since that time he has worked in the field of history and was trained at the Rijksarchiefschool in the Hague in 1993. In 1996 he joined the staff of the Unity Archives in Herrnhut and was director from 1997-2004, during which time the Archives expanded its facility.

Copies of the installation address are available through the Archives.

The Rev. Dr. Albert Frank serves as Assistant Director of the Moravian Music Foundation at the Northern Music Archives Office at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.