A few folk did wonder if I鈥檇 made my home at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick. No sooner had the 51视频鈥檚 General Assembly concluded then I was back within days for my first outing as Assembly Moderator. It was a delight to represent the 51视频 for the start of the Synod of the (9-13 July 2026).
Much resonated: smaller and aging congregations of deep faithfulness increasingly stretched by demands of compliance; worries about too few ministers; an ending for a beloved institution (Fulneck School in West Yorkshire, opened in 1753); seeking financial stability; re-imaging structures and staffing; renewing commitments to outreach. We have so much in common. There was a deep desire to journey together with ecumenical partners, like us, wrestling with such comparable agendas. The 51视频 shares in four local congregations with Moravians.
I was a little stunned to be welcomed as coming from a big Church; a new experience! As of 2025 there were 28 British Moravian congregations, with a total of 919 members. Each congregation was represented at the Synod, which meets every two years. We all had our names at our places and a seating plan showing who everyone was. This felt to be a very real family gathering, with everyone addressed as 鈥淪ister鈥� or 鈥淏rother,鈥� including their two bishops.
But that Fulnek date tells a story. The Moravians are the oldest in the Protestant family. John Hus, professor in Prague, challenged Roman Catholicism. He was burned for heresy on 6 July, 1415. His followers regrouped and, by 1457, established the Unitas Fratrum (the Unity of the Brethren): the Moravian Church. That鈥檚 60 years before Martin Luther鈥檚 first public acts of reform! By 1517 they numbered 200,000 with over 400 parishes across Bohemia and Moravia.
Brutal persecutions followed. In 1722 many found sanctuary on the lands of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Saxony. Moravians created the community of Herrnhut and, from here, established settlements across the world. It was while worshipping at the Moravian church in Fetter Lane, London, that John Wesley felt his heart 鈥渟trangely warmed鈥� and thus began the journey that would give rise to Methodism. Today, there are over one million Moravians, mostly in eastern Africa, the Caribbean, Honduras, Nicaragua and South Africa.
Fulneck was established as a Moravian settlement after Zinzendorf visited the area in 1743; deep roots indeed.