Memorial Moravian Church

MORAVIAN MEMORIAL CHURCH  ALSO KNOWN AS MEMORIAL MORAVIAN CHURCH

The Moravian Church was founded in 1457, and March 1^st is regarded as the birthday of the Church.  It started in Bohemia, and the official name is the Unitas Fratrum or the Unity of the Brethren.  Due to its later association with Moravia, it became known as Moravian.

History assigns to the Moravian Church the position of The Pioneer Church of Christian Missions.  The beginning of Moravian Missions was in 1732, when on December 13^th, Leonard Dober and Davis Nitschmann landed on St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, to bring the Gospel to the slaves.  This was sixty years before the missionary movement started in England under William Carey.  The Moravians were the first Protestants to undertake Missions as a Church enterprise.

The Memorial Church started as the “town” church in Charlotte Amalie.  One of its earliest places for worship is located on Back Street in downtown Charlotte Amalie. Once the members purchased property on upper Norre Gade, they laid the stone for building a permanent structure in May 1882. On May 16, 1884, Moravian Memorial Church was dedicated.  The church name Memorial” commemorates the 150^th anniversary of the Unitas Fratrum, also known as the Moravian Church, worldwide.  It is one of the Moravian churches which was established as part of the missions from the church in Herrnhut, Germany.

The church bell was presented to the congregation by the members of the Moravian Church in Germany on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone.  The pillars in the church, which represent the Corinthian style of architecture, were imported from Scotland.  The pipe organ was built at Stuttgart in Germany by Carl Wegle.