Because the quality of this recording is not good, we have included Rev. Musomba's notes for you to follow as you listen to his presentation.

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THE SPEECH TO BE DELIVERED AT ST: PHILIPS MORAVIAN CHURCH
was rescheduled and delivered at Home Moravian Chapel 

 (By the Rev. Angetile Yesaya Musomba M.Div. President of the Unity Board of the Moravian Church World Wide -Unitas Fratrum) 

Introduction:

 I personally want to give thanks and praise to God Almighty for allowing me to speak to you at this day. It is important also to give thanks to you brothers and sisters for giving me the chance and time to address you dears in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 The month of November is very special in our church history of the Moravians, for it was on November 13 th 1741, the Moravian Church Worldwide on this day announced to her members of the Headship of Christ as the Chief Elder of this church. We who study history emphasize that things done in the past help us to be better and to be careful in our times not to repeat the mistakes of the past. 

We therefore do appreciate the past with critical eyes. 

I would like to speak to you on this day about "FELLOWSHIP RESTORATION" 

One year ago I was in this part of your country. There were many talks about 250 years of the work of the Moravian Church in North Carolina. What has the Lord done to this church in all these years we are to say thank you to HIM alone. 

We can speak like the Prophet Samuel that, "THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US " 

First of all, may I take this opportunity to congratulate all those people who are in the first place in the initiating the idea of what could be done to celebrate those 250 years gone by. 

On one side also we feel proud when we stand on the shoulders of some of our fore faithful followers of our church. We are blessed when we have spiritually carried on what they taught and believed until they died. In our African situation we believe that those people who have gone before us laying in the graveyards are still looking to us as we do their wishes. We believe that if you bury the dead body the spirit of that person looks to you. For us in Africa therefore it is not easy to accept the idea of cremating the dead bodies. On this day then I say to you thank for you for honoring that very important work by those who have gone before us to stay with our Lord. The big company of those sleeping are also with us today. 

When today we are meeting here I would like to remind you the need for the restoration of the fellowship. The Moravian Church has been for many years regarded as a neutral church in times of conflicts. This you could find in many historical records. But accept me to say it has not worked some times that way when you come to the internal situations. In this church we are meeting in today is the Witness to what I have just said. We know from historical point of view, that there were times when all people who lived in Salem in the beginning worshipped under one roof But there came time when things changed so much that it was necessary to be worshipping in different church buildings. The separation was based on the colouf' of the individual. 

I would like to remind you that all people were created in the image of God. There is no person who is different on this. But there are things which could also make us be different if we do not know how to use our differences for the blessing of the Lord. 

The Moravian Church members when they were sent out to the new world there were told by their leader N. von Zinzendorf that, "Do not go out there and transform the new societies into another Herrnhut" This kind of directive some times was not followed in those new places. I am not sure what you have to do if you go among African American where for them to be really in worship you need to shout and dance. These people are such way that if you stop them is like taking the river to go up the hill without using a pump. 

I would like to share with you of the situation in my country to the situation when missionaries arrived to try to evangelize Africans. 

There have been times when religion including Christianity has made people to become enemies to each other. I remember there were times when the Bible was used to justify the slavery in many parts of the world. But let me not dwell on that but I want to speak on how religions have been used to create a negative society .I remember when missionaries came to our land they found people well close to each other in the family. Each and every one knew what was his or her responsibility to the whole family. 

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 Those Christian Missionaries came with their so called denominations. Those denominations or different churches were enemies in their countries. Their enmity was never left behind when they came to Africa. When those Missionaries came they brought those differences with them. We could get in one family four converted Christians as, Moravians, Roman Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists and Episcopal Church. Each of those members were told not to marry any of those from different church as they were to be looked upon as their enemies. I remember some Moravian Members when their daughter married a Roman Catholic member the parents were put on church discipline. Therefore it was difficult that the differences from their counties were carried to our society.

The point I am trying to make here is that the church, sometimes did not help to unity people but rather it helped the divisions. I am not sure of this church where we are today, of what made the then African American to worship differently from those the other Moravians.

 While we do not have to look to the cause of the separation by asking for the replies, we are only needed to be reminded that we have to watch of such happenings in our times. 

For those who worked on the plans to celebrate these 250 years have made history alive today. We are to use these times not just as a historical matter which has brought many people including me to visit these places, but let it revive those who seemed to be getting tired of their faith. May you all be encouraged to move forward and be ready to learn some ways to strengthen our fellowship. We are to look to new ways of worship in a positive manner in the restoration of the lost fellowship. 

I remember back home to one of very conservative congregation when new ways of worship was introduced especially during the funeral service, how people reacted very negatively to those changes. In a normal way of burial services people are very quiet and you could hardly hear anyone speaking in a loud voice. This Christian custom was contrary to our custom where dancing was part of the service. Those people from my area introduced such kind of services. The very called Moravians called the bishop's office to intervene the practice. At the end it was accepted.

 It may be we are needed in our church to open the door for communal activities of the working days not only to those who are Moravians but to any so living near to our church buildings. This could apply more to youths who would see this building of Sunday worship to belong to them all. 

There are times when we need to make changes we may seem as we are getting out of the so called the Moravian traditions of worship. May I give you some examples: 

One day I had my fellow Moravian Minister who was visiting me from another country .When we entered the service and started worshipping the very God, he could not believe to be in the Moravian Church service. The main reason was that people were shouting and dancing. He could hear the click sounds in between the choir singing, also the same could happen when the preacher was right at the middle of the sermon a shouting came from the unknown member. In the whole service of three hours we had only one hymn from the printed hymnal book. The service went on for all those hours all people participated in some way in the service. 

After the service had ended outside we finished the day with the selling of all the material offerings which were to be to the glory of the Lord, he asked me, "Was this a Moravian Worship Service or was it a Pentecostal Worship Service?" I replied him that our church is a living church and we are ready to change the way of worship if that could help us to be closer to the Lord and be able to hear the Message of the Good News in our African way of expression.

 Just to remind you about the life in Herrnhut, Germans were shocked to see how those people were behaving in the already established church of their time. Zinzendorf was accused of being another church influence and it was claimed from those who were against him that he had another new faith. But for them the Herrnhuter it was felt that was the best way to worship God. Due to their very different way of life at Herrnhut when Wesley visited Herrnhut in one of his comments said, "I look forward to the time when this kind of church would cover the whole world as the waters of the sea does have always done."

 I think the same comes to us as we celebrate these 250 years of our work in this place or state that. "When will this church not only where we are today become a place where people would run to meet with their Lord God who laughs, cheers, but He is theirs in everyday of their lives". 

We would like to find out of what is that makes other church buildings be to filled with people every Sunday service. How shall we get the street children or our cities, youth as well as adults run to our church services?

I do remember very well about the hours spent in the church. Just to give an example; One day I went to one of the Moravian church service and I was a preacher on that day. I was told that, "please you are allowed to speak for about 15 -20 minutes, because many people here are very sensitive to the time". We had to finish the service in about an hour. I did agree to the guidelines. Everyone was very thankful to my time management.

But let me tell you the other side of the story which was shocking to me.   The same friend of mine invited me for the day meal at a particular restaurant. We were there at the eating place for two and a half hours. I asked my host is this a good way of using your time given by the Lord. We have spent only one hour in the church and we are spending many more hours in eating which is to stay in our bodies for a very short time. I am just posing a question to you I said; Do we need to change? Do you remember why Moravians started Love Feast in Herrnhut. It was because they had spent long time without eating or drinking any thing. When and how would this kind of fellowship be practiced in our church again? As we celebrate these 250 years of our work, we are to look back and at the same look forward by evaluating our ways of worship and traditions.

 Sometimes stories would help us better to get to the point. In this country due to snow many birds need a help. You could find many birds running to your neighbors yard to get some food which they do not need during summer time. There are people who want to watch such birds, but they never find ways to attract them to their yards. Always you will find her going into the parks. But the simplest way would be to have also a feeding place. The same should apply to our church rather than wondering of what is going on there. We must find ways to bring those outside our church to come be part of us. 

While we do not have to look to the cause of the separation, but we are to ask questions where are other people to this church. The issue before us is what can we do to come closer. When we look to the world around us we see totally a different life. We are needed to learn from the places like at the markets. In those places there are built many shops at the same place. People decide to which room or place they want to buy a particular thing. Those things could be of the same make in five different shops. There are now no particular places for Indians, African Americans nor for German group or British group. We buy things in the shops we like. Could our celebrations of these 250 years be a stepping stone towards the restoration of the real fellowship. May it make people to move from a certain church to another depending on the preacher of that day. 

We are gathered here to get a new meaning of sharing of our faith. Please be reminded that any separation is not for the blessing of the Lord we worship. In history the Lord has used some times different ways to change the life of a particular society .

 In Africa as an exaample we have had God using some leaders to bring change of the moving wave. We have an example of a well known Statesman Nelson Mandela. In one of the books which gives about his life called LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, we learn many issues. Mandela was raised as a person to fight against the oppressor. But after the struggle had ended, he dealt very differently with oppressors. He did not use his freedom to revenge, but rather he took the Nation to reconciliation. In one of his speech to the nation said: "I am your servant It is not the individual that matter, but the collective. This is a time to heal the old wounds and build a new South Africa I saw my Mission as one of preaching reconciliation, of binding the wounds of the country, of engendering trust and confidence". (Long Walk to Freedom, the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Little Brown and Company, 1994, pp 744-745) 

I do hope that these celebrations would make a new beginning for the life constructed from our broken history. We can rejoice as we look forward to the new co-operation between different origins. May these celebrations bury the painful past, but be enabled to struggle towards the future. May all of us use this time to worship in new fellowship. Let us rejoice, pray, sing in the name of one Lord.

 We are to rejoice as the light has come up to us through these celebrations. We are to see as Prophet Isaiah said: "ARISE, SHINE FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD IS RISEN UPON YOU" 

CONCLUSION: 

May the Lord enable you to join hand in hand where people from different churches would move from church to church. The Lord is faithful and he promises to continue to be with his believers til the end of ages. Let us entrust our future in the enabler Jesus Christ our Chief Elder. 

May the Lord bless you all. 

Rev. Angetile Yesaya Musomba
11/17/99