Gathering the Gleanings: Reflections on Life in the Ministry

The Moravians were Christians that found themselves under great persecution in various parts of Europe. Little by little, they found their way to the estate of Count Nicholas Ludwig Von Zinzendorf, who offered them a place of refuge. Zinzendorf was very generous in allowing them to settle on his land and to support them in so many ways.

However, when you get a group of people together you have a wide array of opinions and in this situation it caused great strife and the community was at a breaking point. Zinzendorf was a wise Lutheran who saw this happening and prayed earnestly and allowed the spirit to move through the village of Herrnhut where they lived. At a worship on August 13, 1727 those Moravians gathered in a church at Berthelsdorf were moved by the spirit and took to heart in new ways the words to the document they had signed, then known as the Brotherly Agreement (now known as the Covenant for Christian Living). Each person gathered that day had deeper understanding that they would work together for the goodness of each other, the church and to glorify God. Worship didn’t end for those gathered that day at the top of the hour, it continued for hours. Zinzendorf saw the joy and the spirit of the moment and he knew people needed some food and beverage to continue on in this party of great joy and unity. So he sent back to his estate for a meal to be brought so that people could go on celebrating together. A Lutheran count had helped to save what we know as the modern Moravian Church.

Fast forward many, many years and I personally sat in my bedroom to receive a call for the results of a vote that would happen at Lutheran Church that this Moravian pastor had prayed about for months. I felt led by the spirit to go to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Welcome, North Carolina. When I received that call from the call committee chair that the congregation had voted to call me as their pastor a huge sigh of joy filled the room. My heart was so filled. Just as the Moravians did in 1727 I danced with joy, the joy of the spirit. I knew that I had heard, and all involved had heard, and responded to the leading of the Holy Spirit with that vote in 2023 in the sanctuary at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church.

As things do, it took some time for transition, both from the time the Moravians signed the Brotherly Agreement and for it to become a wholehearted reality that day for those Moravians under the leadership of that Lutheran. It took some time for the Moravian Pastor and the congregation of Our Saviour’s Lutheran to figure out the details and a beginning celebration to be declared.

It seems fitting to me to celebrate this day one year later and for years to come. So much has happened in life at Our Saviour’s, and we continue to work together for the goodness of ourselves and our church and to bring much glory to our God. Together at Our Saviour’s we work together to be a Loving, Sharing, and Feeding community by the grace of God.