NORTHERN PROVINCE
Moravian University Chaplain
Brother Charles McDonald has accepted the call to serve as the full-time chaplain of Moravian University, Bethlehem, Pa.. Br. Charles began his call to specialized ministry on July 1, 2025. Charles is a graduate of Moravian University and Moravian Theological Seminary, earning his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics in 2017 and his Master of Divinity in 2021. Charles was ordained on May 15, 2021, and consecrated a Presbyter on April 5, 2025. Charles served as the full-time pastor of Chaska Moravian Church, Chaska, Minn. Please hold Charles and his wife Rebecca, Chaska Moravian Congregation and Moravian University in your prayers.
Retirements
The Rev. Tracy Robinson has been granted permission to retire from the active ministry of the Moravian Church, effective June 30, 2025. Brother Tracy was ordained on July 30, 2006 , and has served in the Moravian Church Southern Province, as church planter for the Latino/Hispanic community in the Lehigh Valley, Pa. He has served together with his wife Rhonda as pastor of Esperanza, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and has served as the Chaplain for Morningstar Senior Living, Nazareth, Pa. The Church is grateful for Br. Robinson’s years of faithful ministry and wishes him well in his retirement.
The Rev. Sue Koenig has been granted permission to retire from the active ministry of the Moravian Church, effective July 4, 2025.
Sister Koenig was ordained on March 7, 2004. She served at the Schoenbrunn Moravian Church in New Philadelphia, Ohio and the Graceham Moravian Church in Thurmont, Md. She is currently serving as the part-time Director of Racial Justice and Healing for the Moravian Church Northern Province and as pastor of First Moravian Church in Easton, Pa.
Sister Koenig will continue to serve under appointment in both of these roles. Thank you to Sister Sue for her many years of faithful service and her continued ministry to the wider church.
The Rev. Mark Breland has been granted permission to retire from the active ministry of the Moravian Church, effective October 19, 2025. Brother Mark was ordained on July 8, 1990. He has served at the Redeemer Church, Philadelphia, Pa.; Lake Mills Moravian in Lake Mills, Wis.; Second/Haverford in Indianapolis, Ind., service to the Western District; and most recently at Lititz Moravian Church in Lititz, Pa. The Church is grateful for Brother Breland’s faithful ministry and wishes him well in his retirement.
Leave of Absence
The Rev. Mary Bielke had resigned her position in specialized ministry as Chaplain at Amediys Hospice in Brookfield, Wis., on September 19, 2024. Sister Mary has requested and has been granted a leave of absence from active service of the Moravian Church, effective September 19, 2024.
Ordination
Brother James Joniec was ordained a Deacon of the Moravian Church on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at Emmaus Moravian Church, Emmaus, Pa., with the Rt. Rev. Douglas Kleintop officiating.
Advent Moravian Church
Brother James Joniec has accepted the call to serve as the part-time pastor at Advent Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pa. Brother James is a May 2025 Moravian Theological Seminary graduate. Br. James will be installed at Advent on Sunday, August 17, 2025. Please hold Brother James, his family, and the Advent Moravian Church in your prayers as they begin their ministry together.
Edgeboro Moravian Church
Sister Jodie Harney has accepted a call to serve as the full-time pastor at Edgeboro Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pa. Sister Jodie will be installed on Sunday, September 7, 2025.
Prior to the call, Sister Jodie had served as the pastor at Mountainview Moravian Church, Hellertown, Pa., from August 2009 until its closing in November of 2024. Please be in prayer for the members of Edgeboro Moravian and for Jodie and her family as they transition together in this ministry.
SOUTHERN PROVINCE
Pastoral Ministry
We invite your prayers of support for the Rev. Russ Williams who has served as pastor of the New Beginnings Moravian Church in Huntersville, N.C. The Provincial Elders’ Conference supports Russ in his discernment to step away from pastoral ministry. We invite your prayers for the New Beginnings congregation as it discerns next steps.
We also invite your prayers for the Rev. Noah Smith. At the conclusion of taking a leave from serving Moravia Moravian as the pastor, he has decided to step away from pastoral ministry for the immediate future. The Provincial Elders’ Conference supports Noah in his discernment to step away from pastoral ministry. We invite your prayers for the Moravia congregation as it discerns its next steps.
Clemmons Moravian Church
The Rev. Christy Clore has accepted the call to be the Associate Pastor of the Clemmons, N.C. congregation. While she will begin her service to the congregation on July 14, she will be installed on August 10. Sister Christy concludes her role as the Faith Formation Specialist with the Commission on Congregational Development in mid-June. Please keep the staff and those serving on the Commission on Congregational Development and the Clemmons congregation in prayer during this time of transition.
The Commission on Congregational Development is in a discernment process about the next steps they will be taking to support the ministry of faith formation and Christian education throughout our Province.
The Table, Raleigh, N.C.
From The Rev. Elizabeth Yarbrough Neely:
Since its inception in the spring of 2021, The Table Moravian Church has been a place to gather around God’s table to share in welcome and love. The Table has offered a place for refuge and healing and a new way to experience God together.
As we pulled our watchword for 2025, we were reminded of our identity and purpose in Christ.
“Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” (Acts 2:46-47)
We have gathered in a plethora of places including homes, parks, community centers, and coffee shops; we have sung songs of worship, praise, lament, faith, and hope; we have shared scripture, prayer, conversations, liturgy and hands-on activities; and, in all these things, we have shared the love and welcome of Christ.
Through prayerful consideration, The Table Moravian Church has discerned that our time as an emerging ministry with a weekly gathering is drawing to a close. We continue to learn from God and from one another as we transition into the next stage of our ministry.
