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serving humanity, we serve our Lord.
Moravian Identity Unity Standing Committee on Theology
Ecumenical
The brief statement is intended to make the Moravian Identity more readily transparent to our friends and neighbors. The official theology of the Moravian Church is found in “The Ground of the Unity,” and our motto continues to determine our conduct with one another, and with all other members of Christ’s church: “In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty and in all things love.” The Moravian Church is: Christ Centered With the whole of Christendom, we worship the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that God revealed God´s Self once for all in Jesus Christ. As the scripture says, `The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and we have beheld his Glory, as of the Only Son who is in the bosom of the Father.´ We believe that God has redeemed us with the whole of humanity by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, who has not left us alone or without comfort, but by the power of the Holy Spirit is present with us in Word and Sacrament, calls us to follow Him, forms us into His body the Church, and sends us into the world to witness to the faith, love, and hope that is ours in Him. Missional We believe that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, humbled himself, and came into the world to become one with humanity in our suffering. As the scripture says, ”He came not to be served but to serve.” Therefore we seek not only to proclaim the Good News of God´s grace, the forgiveness of sins, and the hope of life Eternal to those who are without God and without hope in the world, but to serve all humanity, great and small, not just in Word but also in action, believing the word of the Lord that he is present in those who are in need, whether that need be physical or spiritual. As he has said, “In as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” In
The Moravian church has felt called to ecumenical witness from the earliest days of our renewed Unity. Jesus prayed that all who follow Him might be one, as He is one with the Father, so that the world might know that he came from the Father. Confessing our own imperfection and brokenness, we believe it is the Lord’s will that all denominations and individuals should seek unity in Him, and in the one Church which is his body, with zeal and love. We recognize that the various denominations have received a variety of gifts, and it is our desire that we may participate with them in an exchange of these gifts, serve our Lord with them as equal partners, and rejoice together in the riches of the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Relational Without denying the differences between those who are one in the Lord, whether geographic, political, racial, sexual, or theological, we believe that our relationship with Christ defines our relationships with one another: We love because he first loved us. We forgive one another because God in Christ has forgiven us. As a community of believers, believing ourselves to be brothers and sisters in Him, we seek to discern God´s will together, that we might serve our Lord, one another, and all the people of this world, as we go forward with joy, looking to the appearance of the great God and Saviour, of us, Jesus Christ. Each time we share in the elements of the Holy Communion we proclaim our relationship to him, and to one another, as Sinners redeemed by his love, and as fellow citizens with him in the heavenly kingdom. As often as we eat the bread, and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death, “Until he comes!” Finis These Core Values were adopted by the Unity Board which is the governing body of the Moravian Church Worldwide.