About half-way between Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina—the headquarters of the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church—lies Harrisonburg, Virginia. This central location served as the ideal place to gather Moravian Church leadership from the Northern and Southern Provinces for two days of collaboration and envisioning a future for the church in North America.
The mid-August Ministry Roundtable brought together Provincial Elders Conference and District presidents with leaders and program staff from the Board of World Mission (BWM), Moravian Ministries Foundation in America (MMFA), Interprovincial Board of Communication (IBOC), Moravian Music Foundation (MMF), Moravian Theological Seminary (MTS), Moravian Archives from both provinces, Eastern District Christian Education Ministry, and the Commissions of Congregational Development (CCD) and Ministry (COM) from the Southern Province.
This session offered a rare in-person opportunity for church leaders to discuss shared challenges, issues and opportunities in their work. It helped strengthen trust and working relationships among ministries by building community and communication, while creating a space to generate ideas for building up the church.
“This gathering fostered renewed connection, collaboration, and shared purpose among church leadership across the Moravian Church in the Northern and Southern Provinces,” said the Rev. Dr. Neil Routh, president of the Southern Province PEC. “The time together affirmed a common vision for the Moravian Church in America and Canada, rooted in a statement by the 2011 Unity Commission on Theology, that anchors the church’s identity in four foundational areas:
- Christ-centered—focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus as the heart of faith and practice.
- Missional—actively engaging in God’s work in the world.
- Relational—nurturing deep connections within congregations and communities.
- Ecumenical—embracing unity and collaboration across Christian traditions.”
Preparing to gather
Planning for the Roundtable began late last year, led by the Rev. Rebecca Craver from the Southern Province CCD, Laura Watson from
MMFA and Justin Rabbach from BWM. Through surveys and one-on-one interviews, the planning team gauged the participants’ hopes and expectations for the gathering, learned more about examples of collaboration (and the challenges and barriers to that collaboration) in the church, collected the backgrounds and expertise of the participants, and more.
This preparatory work helped shape the agenda for the meeting. The collected and summarized information was also cataloged to help all of the participants in their future understanding of how each agency works. The costs for the conference were underwritten by the Moravian Ministries Foundation.
Working through ideas
Roundtable organizers enlisted the help of the Rev. Susan Nienaber, a ministry consultant and ordained Methodist clergyperson who has worked with a number of different Moravian agencies, to facilitate the session. Susan’s combination of familiarity with the Moravian Church and outside perspective proved invaluable in leading group discussions.
With Susan’s guidance, the gathered leaders worked through ideas to help deliver a “bold dream” for the Moravian Church in America: “To live fully into our identity as a Christ-centered, missional, relational and ecumenical church.”
With this idea guiding the conversations and generating ideas, the church leaders identified three strategic outcomes that could help meet that goal:
- Developing pathways for faith formation—equipping both lay and clergy leadership with tools for spiritual growth and leadership development.
- Increasing interprovincial partnership and collaboration—strengthening connections and shared initiatives across provincial leadership structures.
- Communicating the “big bold dream”— articulating a compelling and visionary future for the Moravian Church.
The participants identified teams of leaders from each of the participating ministries to work on these goals, and established specific milestones for what will come from this work. Through wide-ranging brainstorming during the gathering, participants generated more than 50 different ideas for new or enhanced activities, programs and resources that can help bring those goals to life.
Sharing successes and challenges
In addition to working together to help deliver that “bold dream,” participants had opportunities to share their work with those gathered for the meeting. This sharing time demonstrated just how much solid work is going on in the church today to help keep the denomination strong, while at the same time illustrating some of the challenges facing each ministry.
“This roundtable gave all of us a rare opportunity to hear how each of our agencies are making a difference and the difficulties we’re facing,” said Mike Riess, executive director of the IBOC. “I think my counterparts around the table were just as amazed as I was at breadth of activity happening throughout the church, while at the same time recognizing that there are significant challenges all of us are dealing with today.”
Roundtable impressions
“As one who is new to the Board of World of Mission, I was thrilled to be able to take part in this Ministry Roundtable,” said the Rt. Rev. Dr. Amy Gohdes-Luman, director of mission engagement for the Board of World Mission. “This gathering of those in leadership at both agency and administrative levels was an expression of the Moravian core value of being in relationship. Being in one room, discussing who and how we are Christ-centered, relational, ecumenical and missional, was inspiring. I was impressed by the shared commitment to collaboration between our provinces.
“I am hopeful that knowing who we are as connected provinces in the United States and Canada will allow us to help each other, reduce redundancy and share energy and resources,” continued Amy. “There is a shared commitment to producing worship resources for our congregations and supporting them in mission endeavors. I am hopeful that gatherings such as the Round Table and regional collaborations will enhance our shared ministry.”
Chris Ogburn, director for the Moravian Music Foundation, shared his thoughts on the gathering, too. “This past week was a reminder that we are truly one team working towards a common goal. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to feel isolated in your work, but these moments are a valuable opportunity to see that you are one part of a larger community. I am hopeful that we are able to embrace this moment and continue to enrich our organizations, communities, and the church. Whenever we are gathered, I’m reminded of the following lines of “Christian Hearts, in Love United”: “let our mutual love be glowing; thus the world will plainly see that we, as on one stem growing, living branches are in thee.”
Moving forward
“The conference affirmed that the leadership structures of the Moravian Church are intentionally designed for shared, mission-oriented
partnership,” said Neil. “This approach fosters mutual efforts to strengthen congregations and ministry expressions, while keeping the focus on bearing witness to the living Christ—both in our local neighborhoods and communities, and in global contexts.”
Now that the Ministry Roundtable is completed, the work on the identified areas of focus—developing pathways for faith formation, increasing interprovincial partnership, and communicating the “big bold dream”—really begins. The teams leading this work include members from both provinces and a variety of ministries to encourage a wide range of perspectives and help drive the spirit of collaboration across the church.
With synods for both the Northern and Southern Province scheduled for June of 2026, church members can expect to hear more about how this work will help the church realize its drive to “fully live into our identity as a Christ-centered, missional, relational and ecumenical church” in coming months.
