Moravian Church in North America

The Ground of The Unity

 

The Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church are a small but very important part of a larger whole – the Unitas Fratrum, a worldwide church whose roots trace back to the mid 1400s.  One of the central underpinnings of this worldwide church is the Ground of the Unity, a doctrinal statement that was adopted by the Unity Synod of the Unitas Fratrum in 1995.

This document is a revision of a similar statement prepared and approved by the Unity Synod of 1957, which marked the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Unitas Fratrum, and reviewed by subsequent Unity Synods. The material contained in the 1957 statement and in this 1995 version of The Ground of the Unity is based on earlier statements about the beliefs and practices of the Moravian Church.

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Essential Features of the Unity

 

The Unitas Fratrum and Its Congregations

The Unitas Fratrum was called into being by God as a Church which stresses fellowship. After its apparent destruction in the land of its origin, it was renewed in Herrnhut, Germany.

We recognize that it is the Lord’s will to confront and call to Himself each individual through His Spirit and that formal membership in a congregation is for no one a substitute for a personal encounter with the Savior, nor does it relieve any from making a personal decision to accept Him. We learn from the Scriptures however that it has pleased God to make the Church the place where God’s fellowship with humanity becomes a reality. A living Church is the clearest witness for its Lord to the world.

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Moravian Covenant for Christian Living

The Moravian Covenant for Christian Living is an attempt to state in clear arrangement and contemporary form a document which has long served the Moravian Church. The Church today has need of a clear statement of its faith and life through which each member may become aware of the nature of his/her Christian commitment. Such a document can become an invaluable aid in the instruction of both new and present members and a meaningful guide in the expression of the Christian life. That such a revision of the Agreement should have been made is entirely in harmony with the spirit of the early Moravian Church which believed that all forms should be updated and made relevant to the present life of the Church.

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The Word of God

The primary means by which humankind knows God’s love and favor is through God’s Word. Moravians believe that the Word of God addresses the church in the world through the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

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