Main Street Moravian Church
Main Street 713 Division Street,
Northfield, Minnesota 55057
Phone: (507) 645-7566
Newsletter
Youth
Church Calendar
The Northfield Moravian Church is one of about 103 Moravian congregations in North America and 1163 worldwide. The Moravians are a very old Protestant Christian denomination, with origins dating back to the early 1400's. We have a distinctive history and tradition. Nevertheless, our beliefs and practices are within the main stream of Protestant Christianity.
We invite you to find out more about our community of faith here in Northfield by perusing this web site. You will find an overview below, with links to more detailed information. To return to this home page from any other page in this site, simply click on the Northfield Moravian logo at the top of the page. Of course, please feel free to visit us in person!
Moravians, along with other Christians, believe in God the Loving Creator, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that God is revealed once and for all in Jesus Christ, and that we are redeemed with the whole of humanity by Christ's death and resurrection. We believe that God is present with us in the Word (scripture) and Sacrament (baptism and communion). We believe that the Spirit calls us to serve one another, and unites us into a living church of Jesus Christ. We believe that we are all sinners who require forgiveness daily, forgiveness granted by the grace of God.
Those are the essentials of our faith. We follow the motto "In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, and in all things love." "In nonessentials liberty" means that there are no creeds or confessional statements which you must believe to be a part of the Moravian Church. Although we respect the ancient creeds as fearless expressions of faith, and use these creeds in worship, they are more like examples than requirements for belief. We do not believe there is a specific doctrinal system contained in scripture. For that reason we welcome a diversity of individual belief and interpretation and discourage argument about mysteries impenetrable to human reason. We believe that the essential Christian beliefs are enough to unify us; it is not necessary and may be destructive to get more specific.
This commitment to unity in diversity is very important to us as Moravians. We believe that God called the Moravian Church into being as a church which emphasizes fellowship and community. At the same time, we believe that faith is in essence a personal relationship with God, and that God confronts and calls each of us as individuals. Being true to a call to fellowship at the same time that we are true to a call to a deeply personal understanding of God and relationship with God requires an acceptance of difference.
We have more information about our Beliefs.
In many ways, the Moravian practice of worship is similar to other Protestant churches. We gather together as a community of faith on Sunday mornings in the sanctuary space of our building. There we sing hymns, pray, read the liturgy, hear readings from scripture, and listen to a sermon interpreting the scripture. The service of worship lasts about an hour. The sacrament of communion is offered at least 8 times a year, on church holidays, and occasionally on other days as well.
Our congregation is small and our style is at once casual and contemplative. Jokes from the pulpit, a comment called out from the pew or a child deciding to join the pastor up front are not unheard of, yet in general, worship is conducted in a manner conducive to prayer and reflection. We do encourage members of the church to participate in leading worship. You will find an annotated bulletin of worship, which we offer as a guide to the first time visitor, on our Practice of Worship page..
Northfield Moravian Church was established in 1869 by a small group of German-speaking settlers, some of whose descendants remain active members today. The congregation has been at the corner of Eighth and Division in Northfield for over 125 years. That 125 years, however, comprises less than one quarter of the length of time the Moravian Church has been in existence.
So what have we been doing all that time? Well, in 1415 our spiritual founder, the Czech religious reformer Jan Hus, was burned at the stake for daring to oppose certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church of the time. This made his followers, the Hussites, unhappy. Because church and state were linked at the time, the Hussite cause of religious reform was enmeshed with Bohemian nationalism. Wars ensued. The next hundred years or so brought both periods of toleration and periods of persecution to the Hussites, who by then had organized officially as the Unitas Fratrum, Ultimately, they were subdued and driven underground. The Unitas Fratrum nurtured their faith in secrecy until the 1720's when a small group of members from Moravia sought refuge on the estate of Count von Zinzindorf. There, deeply influenced by the pietist understanding of faith as experiential rather than doctrinal, they experienced a great spiritual renewal. The Moravians resolved to become a missionary society. By 1740 the Moravians were supporting missionaries in more than 20 countries. Currently, the worldwide Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) has about 720,000 members. Sixty-one percent of these members reside on the African continent, four percent in Europe, twenty-seven percent in Central and South America and the Caribbean, and eight percent in North America.
There you have an extremely short summary of our history. If you want to know more (and there are very interesting tales left to tell), visit our History page.
Our historical connection with the stern and spare German pietists might lead you to guess that the Moravians practice a Christianity unadorned by ritual or symbol. On the contrary, the Moravian Church is rich with traditions, rituals and customs that symbolize our faith. Visual symbols, such as the Moravian Seal and the Moravian Star, are displayed in the church building. We have a longstanding, worldwide reputation for distinctive music. Many Moravians practice customs which grow out of an aspect of our ethnic heritage, such as the Christmas putz. We have special services of worship, with elements unique to our tradition, on Easter Morning and Christmas Eve. A Moravian Lovefeast service can be held any time of year! If you are curious about these -- and more -- Moravian customs (What's a "putz"? Is a Lovefeast as exciting as it sounds?), visit our Customs and Traditions page.
Of course, worshipping together on Sunday is a very important activity, but it is certainly not our only activity. We also engage in a variety of volunteer, celebrative, community-building, spiritual development and stewardship activities. Find out what's going on by visiting the Activities page.
Northfield's Moravian Church is pastored by Amy Gohdes-Luhman. Amy was called by the congregation to serve as pastor in the fall of 1996. She is very enthusiastic about the possibilities open to "the main street church." In addition to sustaining a healthy community of faith, Amy hopes to nurture a strong sense of mission to the needs of the larger Northfield community. Preaching and pastoral care are also high priorities in her ministry. You can find out more about Amy by visiting our Pastor page.
The Moravian Church strives to govern itself in accordance with Christian principles of equality. We acknowledge that there can be no head of the church other than Jesus Christ. Keeping that in mind, an elected board bears responsibility for the majority of the policy formation and decision-making for the Northfield Moravian congregation. The pastor handles day-to-day issues in accordance with any applicable congregational policies, and major issues are brought before the whole congregation for a vote. The various Moravian congregations in North America are organized geographically into districts and provinces. Congregations send delegates (usually a pastor and one or more members) to regularily scheduled district conferences and provincial synods. At these gatherings, decisions affecting the district or province as a whole are decided by majority vote. For details, go to the Organization and Governance page.
There's more! For those of you with inquiring minds, we have the Learn a Little page, which offers you a glossary of words and concepts related to the Christian faith, and a guide to the church (liturgical) year. We have also compiled a list of interesting Links (well, we think they're interesting, anyway).
Email:
For information or comments about the church:
email the pastor at moravians@microassist.com.
For information or comments about the web site:
email the webmaster at beau35@hotmail.com
Directions: Highway 19 will get you to Northfield from either the east or west. Coming from the west, you will find that 19 becomes 5th Avenue just before you reach downtown. At the corner of 5th and Division St., make a right and continue on Division for a few blocks. (NOTE: Division is Northfield's main street, and is often called "main street" even though the signs say Division.) The church is on your left just past the supermarket and dentist's office, at the intersection with Eighth. There's off - street parking in the back.
If you are coming to Northfield from the east on 19, you will make a wide left from 19 onto Division (Main) and proceed through downtown to the church, following the directions above.
All rights reserved.
Last updated on April 01, 1999