The Development of Christian Worship in the Moravian Tradition

The Moravian - July/August 2005

One of my teachers liked to say, “nothing is more dated than the innovation of the last generation.” By that he meant, while what is “contemporary” quickly becomes stale, the traditional things that have endured over time can be remarkably relevant in each new age.

This is certainly true in our ways of worship.

That’s not to say that nothing in our worship should change. New hymns and tunes will speak to people in new ways, and each new generation will want to put the church’s liturgy — the shared prayers — into the language of its own era. What it does mean is that there are certain liturgical forms that must always be a part of Christian worship. These include praise, confession and absolution, thanksgiving, intercession and petition, devotion to God, and commitment to mission. It also means that Christian worship is based on an order that goes back to the earliest Christian centuries and flows in a certain way: gathering for fellowship; proclaiming the Word of God; offering gifts and prayers; sharing the Meal; and going out into the world for service.

Traditionally, Moravian worship followed that order. As Moravians set about renewing our worship for the 21st century, it might be helpful to remember how we got the customs and practices that are so dear to us.

When the “Brothers and Sisters of the Law of Christ,” our earliest Moravian ancestors, set themselves apart in 1457 their intention was to avoid the excesses of late medieval Christianity. Their worship was based on three principles: simplicity, congregational singing, and the reading of the Bible. Because books were expensive and rare, they prayed, sang, and recited scripture from memory. Their congregations were close-knit, and they gathered for worship several times a week. Because they regarded the previous practice of withholding the communion cup from the laity as spiritually and socially corrupt, it was important to them that all the people of God participate fully in the sacraments. Holy Communion was central to their worship. The chalice became a symbol of their movement. In the General Liturgy and Church Litanies at the beginning of the Moravian Book of Worship we repeat many of the same prayers offered by the members of the Ancient Unity.

The old Moravian Church was almost destroyed during the religious wars of the 17th century. By the time that Count Zinzendorf renewed the church in the 1720s much had changed. For one thing, each territory had an established church, and in German Saxon, where Herrnhut was built, that was the Lutheran Church. All inhabitants were expected to conform to Lutheran principles and practices in their theology and liturgy. The Herrnhuters worshipped every Sunday in the parish church at Berthelsdorf, where the service included scripture readings according to a lectionary, a full sermon, classical prayers and contemporary hymns, and the celebration of the Holy Communion. For their worship on other days they developed the Singstunde, a service in which the congregation sang a succession of verses from a variety of hymns. It was a sermon in song. In commenting on the practice, Bishop Kenneth Hamilton wrote, “no address was given on such occasions; none was needed.”

As Moravian missionaries took the Gospel and their own particular “theology of the heart” around the globe after 1732 they also took their beloved worship practices with them, The Singstunde became the pattern for a variety of services. Lovefeasts, Holy Communion, Christmas Vigils, New Year’s Watchnight all were based on the original “singing hour.” In their communal settlements the Moravians followed a monastic-like cycle of work, fellowship, and worship, but they did not cut themselves off from the world around them and they appreciated and used the best of choral and instrumental music.

When North American Moravians discontinued communal living in the 19th century many of the beloved hymns and liturgies were retained and adapted to new circumstances. Something new was added, though, adopted from American religious culture: sermon-centered services inspired by frontier revivalism. This form continued to under gird Moravian worship through the 20th century and into the 21st. Although Moravians still approach the Communion Table with expectant hearts, it is Word rather than Sacrament that predominates.

Moravian pastors, musicians, and other leaders gathered recently in Harrisonburg, Virginia for an Interprovincial Ministry and Worship Convocation. There, much attention was given to how we might renew our life in worship, and the participants left with new ideas and enthusiasm. In the process, perhaps we should remember that what is traditional can often have the most resonance in the contemporary world. Word and Sacrament, liturgy and lovefeast, preaching and prayer, congregational singing and concerted music: this is the living tradition of Moravian worship.