New Dorp Moravian Church
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Who Are the Moravians?    
  Regular is a word that could describe the Moravian Church. We are regular Protestants, in the mainline and moderate, committed to the Reformation principle of keeping our focus on serving Christ in the world. We have been serving Christ for a long time - since 1457. The Moravian Church is known as the oldest Protestant church to be organized, older than Lutherans by more than 60 years.
      We have a long and fascinating history that originates in the revolt of the Czech priest, John Hus. Some of his followers in Moravia and Behemia started a church called the Unitas Fratrum. The church was driven underground in the early 1600's, and was renewed in the 1720's in Germany by refugees from Moravia and Bohemia, and a Lutheran whose name was Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. From there, missionaries went out to serve Christ in deverse places and among many races, as the Moravian Church established itself as a recognized Protestant denomination.
Simple Moravian History 
 
For over five centuries, the Moravian Church has been proclaiming the Gospel in all parts of the world. Our influence has far exceeded our numbers, as we have cooperated with religious faiths on every continent and have been a visible part of the Body of Christ. Proud of our heritage and firm in our faith, the Moravian Church ministers to the needs of people wherever they are.
 
The name Moravian identifies the fact that our historic church has its origins in ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic. In the mid-ninth century these countries converted to Christianity chiefly through the influence of two Greek Orthodox missionaries, Cyril and Methodius. They translated the Bible into the common language and introduced a national church ritual. In the centuries that followed, Bohemia and Moravian gradually fell under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Rome, but some of the Czech people protested.
 
 
The foremost of Czech reformers, John Hus (1369-1415) was a professor of philosophy and rector of the University of Prague. The Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Hus preached, became a rallying place for the Czech reformation. Gaining support from students and the common people, he led a protest movement against doctrinal positions of the Roman clergy and hierarchy. Hus was accused of heresy, underwent a long trial at the Council of Constance, was condemned, and was subsequently, burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.
 
Organized in 1457
The reformation spirit did not die with Hus. The Moravian Church, or Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren), as it has been officially known since 1457, arose as followers of Hus gathered in eastern Bohemia and organized the church. By 1467 the Moravian Church had established its own ministry.
By 1517 the Unity of Brethren numbered at least 200,000 with over 400 parishes. Using a hymnal and catechism of its own, the church promoted the Scriptures through its two printing presses and provided the people of Bohemia and Moravia with the Bible in its own language.
 
Bitter persecution broke out in 1547, and led to the spread of the Brethren's Church to Poland. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) brought further persecution to the Brethren's Church. The result of the persecution was the near elimination of the Brethren's Church. Numbers dropped significantly. At the same time, to remain alive, the church was, in essence, forced "underground. In these dark days, it was their prayer that one day the "hidden seed" of the Unitas Fratrum would once again spring to life.
 
Renewed in the 1700's
The renewal came in the early 1700's, when a group of refugees from Moravia found refuge on the estate of Count Zinzendorf. It was on his estate that they would build the community of Herrnhut.
 
The new community became a haven for many more Moravian refugees. In 1727, the community experienced a spiritual awakening that gave this community a passion for spreading the Gospel. As a result of that awakening, by 1732, the first missionaries were sent to the West Indies. In 1735 they arrived in Georgia. In 1741 they arrived in Eastern Pennsylvania. And finally arrived here in New York in 1763. Since these early days, the Moravian Church has continued to send missionaries to every continent, ministering to the people through education, through medical clinics, as well as proclaiming and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.