Welcome to the
Moravian Church - Western District
The Moravian Church was founded in Germany more than 500 years ago and at that time was officially called the Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of the Brethren, which remains the church's official name today. The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations dating back to 1457 in Europe and first coming to America in 1735.
Moravians have a strong tradition of ecumenical work and are best known for their missionary work and rich musical heritage.
The Moravian Church in North America is comprised of the Northern and Southern Provinces. The Northern Province has approximately 28,000 members in 102 congregations in 13 states in the U.S. and two Canadian provinces. The Southern Province includes nearly 20,000 members in 58 congregations, which are located primarily throughout the Southeast. Moravians now number more than 789,000 worldwide and are spread across five continents and more than 20 jurisdictional provinces.
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Recent News
Spring 2010The Rev. James Hicks
President of the Western District Executive Board
The eight Western District pre-synod area meetings are now completed. It was gratifying to see delegates and other interested persons, actively engaged in these conversations that sought to prepare us for our work as a synod. If you go to www.mcnp.org and click on "2010 Synod," you will be able to read the various reports and Memorials that have been submitted.
Composing the Western District report caused me to smile frequently. Smiling is not something that I associate with writing reports! However, as I wrote about signs of life in the congregations, I couldn't help but feel gratitude and hope. The discipline of gratitude encourages us to pay attention for signs of life.
One colleague responded to the report by affirming 99% of it. I was surprised since we often see things differently. I've concluded that those
signs of life hold us together in hope. This colleague also noted something that I had overlooked, that other 1%. He was right and I thanked him for bringing it to my attention. As I re-read the report now, many more stories and faces come to mind that I could have written about. We are richly blessed. Isn't it wonderful that even in being "corrected" we are pointed to the gift of life in Christ Jesus.
With gratitude for the ministries entrusted to our hands,
Jim
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