The following is a tentative schedule of events and is subject to change. Times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time, with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in italics. Last updated August 15, 2023.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
12:00 noon
Opening Reception
Moravian Archives Gallery
Food: Keystone Farms Cheese, The Aging Moon
Beer Tasting by Yergey Brewing
1:00 pm
Words of Welcome
Moravian Archives Reading Room
– Hilde Binford, Conference Chair and Associate Professor of Music, Moravian University
– Paul Peucker, Director and Archivist of Moravian Archives Bethlehem
– Bruce Earnest, Executive Director of Moravian Music Foundation
– Jeffrey Long, Conference Administrator
1:30 – 3:00 pm
17:30 – 19:00 UTC
SESSION 1: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: C. Riddick Weber
- Frank Crouch, Moravian Theological Seminary (retired), Black and White Moravian Responses to American Racist Violence 1917-1919: Rev. Dr. Charles Martin and Bishop Edward Rondthaler
- Scott Gordon, Lehigh University, Flight from Bethlehem: A Runaway Slave, 1767
- Josef Köstlbauer, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Intimate Indifference: Magdalena More, Andrew “the Moor,” and the differences between free and enslaved in eighteenth century Bethlehem.
3:30 – 5:00 pm
19:30 – 21:00 UTC
SESSION 2: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Craig Atwood
- Jenna Gibbs, Florida International University, Charles J. Latrobe’s ‘Reports on Negro Education,’ 1837-1839: Evangelical Missions and Post-Emancipation Education in the British West Indies
- Amy Schutt, SUNY Cortland, Moravian Education in an Era of Enslavement and Warfare: Children’s Relationships in 18th-Century Pennsylvania
- Vanessa Romero, Arizona State University, Comenius and the French: A Complex Epistolary Relationship
SESSION 3: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Susan Ellis
- Bruce Earnest, Moravian Music Foundation, Vocal Pedagogy in Moravian Music in the United States: An Exploration
- Christopher Ogburn, Moravian Music Foundation, The Most Musical People: Moravian Music-Making and the German American Experience
- Tim Sharp, Trevecca University, Maria und Johannes by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz: A Musical Treasure from Moravian Archives
7:00 – 8:30 pm
23:00 – 00:30 UTC
Walter Vivian Moses Lecture in Moravian Studies
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal, with reception to follow
Introduction: Craig Atwood
Changes in Bethlehem, Changes in the Unity: Inner and Outer Aspects of Moravian Organisation
Christina Petterson
In Moravian parlance, the terminology of “inner and outer” is broadly used to distinguish between spiritual and organisational matters. In his memoir, the clothmaker Gottlieb Oertel (1714–1767) from Silesia stated that he always wanted to do something more meaningful or “inner” (innerlich), instead of the external business (äußerliche Dinge) to which his skills were being devoted. This terminology is also used in Bethlehem to discuss the problems with the mission in St Thomas in the 1740s, when the missionaries there placed too great an emphasis on profits and economic issues. Cammerhof, who was corresponding with St Thomas, contrasted their concern with outer matters with Bethlehem, where inner and outer were in harmony, and the outer subordinated to the inner. After Zinzendorf’s death, the organisational changes in the Unity meant that these two spheres were separated, not only in Bethlehem, but in Moravian missions in general. The significance of this for the Unity and its missions was far-reaching, in that it meant that economic matters were separated from their spiritual purpose, and took on a life of its own. The lecture will explore this process of separation and its ramifications.
Friday, August 18, 2023
8:15 – 9:00 am
Light Breakfast Refreshments
Moravian Archives Gallery
9:00 – 10:30 am
13:00 – 14:30 UTC
SESSION 4: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Katherine Faull
- Wolfgang Breul, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, “Salt of the Earth”. Moravian Diaspora in comparison
- Jessica Cronshagen, Oldenburg University, Creating networks between Paramaribo, Basel, Königsfeld and Zeist: The activities of Johann Rudolf Passavant in support of the Moravian Mission in the 1st half of the 19th century
- Paul Peucker, Moravian Archives, Filling the World with the Gospel: the Motivation for the Global Scale of Moravian Activity
SESSION 5: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Scott Gordon
- Jared Burkholder, Grace College, Helpers and Donors: Type-casting Moravians in 19th Century Biographies of Wesley, Whitefield, and Carey
- Revocatus Meza, Teofilo Kisanji University, Moravian Heritage: The Use of the Church’s Emblem at the Crossroads in Tanzania
- Jill Vogt, Moravian Church, Herrnhut, The Moravian Hourly Intercession and the 24/7 Prayer Movement
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
15:00 – 16:30 UTC
SESSION 6: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Christopher Ogburn
- Stewart Carter, Wake Forest University, Moravian Musical Instruments and Instrument Makers in the Atlantic World
- Peter Vogt, Moravian Church Germany, “Pious Innkeeper and Godly Tavern”: Concepts of Hospitality and the Accommodation of Visitors in 18th Century Moravian Settlements
SESSION 7: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Bruce Earnest
- Alice Caldwell, University of Bridgeport, Heinrich August Jäschke’s Musicianship Manual of 1847: Insight into Moravian Music Pedagogy
- Christina Ekström, Academy of Music and Drama, Gothenburg University, The Single Sisters’ Choir in Christiansfeld, Denmark: Musical Agents and their Agency
- Maryam Haiawi, Universität Hamburg, Opera Music Serving as Church Music? On the Practice of Borrowing in the Moravian Church
12:30 – 2:00 pm
Bag Lunch Roundtable
Moravian Archives Reading Room
Moderator: Paul Peucker
Food: Eli’s Original Steaks & Subs
Introducing Recent Research or Work in Progress on Moravian History and Music
Join us for a roundtable session, where participants are encouraged to share their recent research findings or work in progress. We would also like to discuss how a potential World Heritage status for Moravian communities might affect Moravian research in the future.
Not quite ready to present, but interested in new projects? Please join us. Each participant will have up to five minutes to speak about their work, with the idea that attendees will have the opportunity to follow up with each other thereafter.
2:00 – 3:30 pm
18:00 – 19:30 UTC
SESSION 8: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: C. Riddick Weber
- Josh Follweiler, Moravian Theological Seminary (Student), God’s Acres and the Easter Sunrise Service: The Making of Southern American Moravian Identity in the Post-WWII Era.
- Lorraine Parsons, Moravian Archives London, Moravian Close, Chelsea (London): the adaptation of a Moravian settlement
- Jared Stephens, Moravian Church, British and Irish Province, The Moravian Settlement: Looking Back to Look Ahead
SESSION 9: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Paul Peucker
- Martha and Michael Hartley, Old Salem Museums & Gardens, Wachovia in North Carolina: “There is none like it”
- David Johnston, Gracehill Trust, Gracehill 1798: A City of Refuge
- James Rollo, Open University, Pride in their past: A study of the role of history and heritage in two English Moravian settlements
3:45 – 4:45 pm
19:45 – 20:45 UTC
SESSION 10: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Christina Petterson
- John Balz, University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Band System and Slavery on St. Thomas, 1736-1746
- Ulrike Wiethaus, Wake Forest University, Doing Theology at Cherokee Missions: The Moravian Context in the Early American Republic
SESSION 11: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Katherine Faull
- Pieter Boon, University of the Free State, South Africa, Did the first Moravian missionaries to South Africa reveal an unexpected origin of an extinct language?
- Stephanie McCormick-Goodhart, Independent Scholar, Polyglot Lovefeast 1749 Bethlehem: Greenlanders first meet Indigenous American Indians
5:00 – 5:45 pm
Lecture Recital
College Hill Moravian Church sanctuary
Introduction: Hilde Binford
Jewel Smith, University of Cincinnati, with Martha Schrempel, The Kummer Sisters’ Binder’s Volumes and Manuscript Books:A Testament of Cultural Significance
6:00 – 6:30 pm
Award Presentations
College Hill Moravian Church sanctuary
Presented by Craig Atwood
- Center for Moravian Studies presentation of the ‘David A. Schattschneider Award of Merit’ to: Sally Ann and David Johnston, and Jill and Peter Vogt
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Conference Soirée
Outdoors, under the tent adjacent to the Moravian Archives (Lot N)
Food: Fired up Artisan Oven Food Truck, MELT Ice Cream Truck
Beverage station sponsored by Campbell, Rappold & Yurasits LLP
Saturday, August 19, 2023
8:15 – 9:00 am
Light Breakfast Refreshments
Moravian Archives Gallery
9:00 – 10:30 am
17:30 – 19:00 UTC
SESSION 12: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Paul Peucker
- Sally Ann Johnston, Moravian Archive of Ireland, Moravian Education in Ireland 1765 – 1900
- Mary Kategile, Teofilo Kisanji University, African Culture influencing realization of female position in the Mission of the Moravian Church in Tanzania
- Wilson Nkumba, Sikonge Moravian Mission Hospital, The Moravian Schools and the Spreading of the Gospel in Western Tanzania between 1891 up to 1967
SESSION 13: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Hilde Binford
- Tom Gordon, Memorial University of Newfoundland, The Inuit Voice in Moravian Music
- James Owen, University of Georgia, Evangelical America and Native American Hymns
- C. Riddick Weber, Moravian University, From Hymnal to Books of Worship: Changes in the American Moravian Liturgical Heritage
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
15:00 – 16:30 UTC
SESSION 14: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Christina Petterson
- Aaron Palmore, Loyola University Maryland, The Colonial Landscape in the Latin Poems of Christian Wedsted (1720-1757)
- Jonas Schwiertz, Freie Universität Berlin,“Why are you grumbling against the Pope in Rome? We already have Popes nearby”. Critical writings of former members Johannes Hansen & Martin Cunow against the acting of the Moravian Church
- Chaz Snider, Calvary Moravian Church & The Global Center for Advanced Studies, Zinzendorf’s Understanding of the Human Subject & Its Relationship to Post-Enlightenment Thought
SESSION 15: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: Hilde Binford
- Jeffrey Gemmell, Millersville University of Pennsylvania/Lititz Moravian Congregation, Reviving the Lititz Collegium Musicum: History You Can Hear!
- Barbara Strauss, Moravian Music Foundation (former employee), GemeinKat: The World Can Now Search Music of the Gemeinde
12:30 – 2:00 pm
Bag Lunch with Presentation
Moravian Archives Reading Room
Introduction: Paul Peucker
Food: Eli’s Original Steaks & Subs
Mobilizing the Walk and Talk of Cultural Heritage: Using Digital Technology to Promote Wellness and Place-based Knowledge
- Presenters:
– Katie Faull, Professor of German and Humanities, Faculty Director of Civic Engagement, Special Advisor to the Provost;
– Shaunna Barnhart, Director of Place Studies Program, Bucknell Center for Sustainability & the Environment;
– Stu Thompson, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; - With students involved in the Project:
– Anna Ottman, Sophomore, Electrical Engineer;
– Vy Tran, Junior, Computer Science;
– Jean Marie Ngabonziza, Sophomore, Computer Engineer
2:00 – 3:00 pm
18:00 – 19:00 UTC
SESSION 16: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Saal
Moderator: Hilde Binford
- Inga Strungytė-Liugienė, Institute of Lithuanian Language, “… But the good that has been done will be more fully known in Eternity alone”: Moravian Wilhelm Andreas Rhenius and his social activities in Klaipėda, East Prussia
- Brent Thorn, Tyler Junior College, The Moravian Missionary in Texas: The Moravian Missionary J.A. Friebele’s Journey from Pennsylvania, Jamaica, Florida, North Carolina to The Mission Field He Found in Texas
SESSION 17: Presentations
Moravian Theological Seminary (Bahnson Center) Genadendal
Moderator: C. Riddick Weber
- Clement Fumbo, Evangelical Fellowship Church Tanzania, A Contribution of the Moravian theological teachings in Tanzania and its contribution to the rest of the Moravian World
- Peter Songoro, Sikonge Moravian Mission Hospital, The Historical Importance of Moravian Sikonge Mission Hospital Since Its Establishment in 1923
4:00 – 5:30 pm
Moravian Historical Society Keynote Lecture
Moravian University (South Campus) Peter Hall
Introduction: Susan Ellis
“A free wildlife:” Morale, Morality and Moravianism in Trinidad 1885-1935
Winelle Kirton-Roberts
When Benjamin Romig, the President of the Moravian Provincial Board, visited Trinidad in 1886, he described it as a place where the “careless” formerly enslaved Tobagonians went to live “a free wildlife.” In the visitation report, Romig expressed concerns about the unacceptable immoral tendencies of the formerly enslaved Africans and proposed a prompt response to expand the Moravian work on the island.
In this paper, I will examine the first fifty years, 1885-1935, of the Moravian work in Trinidad. With Antiguans, Kittitians, Crucians, and Barbadians seeking gainful employment in Trinidad from the 1840s, there had already been decades of Moravian presence on sugar estates near San Fernando and Port of Spain. An invitation by these migrants to establish a permanent Moravian presence, was an attempt by the migrants to connect with their Moravian roots and to boost their morale. However, when there was the influx of Moravians from Tobago after 1890, in the north of the island, the Moravian work eventually evolved into a moralizing mission.
In the context of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and a multi-religious community, the Moravians etched an often under looked space through its Christian education. This revolved around the construction and operation of Moravian schools. Yet, in the liberal and progressive island of Trinidad, the Moravians were unbent in shaping Moravian identity through Christian morality.
I will argue that the Moravians squandered the unique opportunity to meaningfully connect with the liberated Africans who migrated to Trinidad for better opportunities. Instead of offering a faith of affirmation and empowerment, the message of the Moravians demonized integral aspects of Africanism and Caribeanism.
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Reception
Moravian University (South Campus) Payne Art Gallery and Foy Concert Hall Lobby
Co-sponsored by Moravian Historical Society and Moravian Music Foundation
7:00 – 8:30 pm
Conference Concert
Moravian University (South Campus) Foy Concert Hall
Lititz Moravian Collegium Musicum in Concert
The Lititz Moravian Collegium Musicum is a select ensemble of professional instrumentalists, from south central Pennsylvania and beyond, with a mission to provide a glimpse into the distinctive musical life and culture of early Lititz. This concert will embody a musical time-traveling adventure with a performance of rarely heard works newly edited by Artistic Director and Conductor, Dr. Jeffrey Gemmell. A variety of genres will reflect the historic and unique nature of the Lititz Collegium Musicum Collection with overtures, sinfonias, symphonies, minuets, solos, duettos, trios, Parthien (Harmoniemusik), military marches, vocal works, and more. Composers will include Moravian and non-Moravian composers such as J. C. Bach, J. Bechler, J. Früauff, H. Grenser, A. Gyrowetz, J. Herbst, L. Hérold, W. A. Mozart, W. Pichl, C. Stamitz, and P. Wranitzky.
Concert is also open to the public for a $15 suggested donation at the door.
Sunday Tour Option: Presenters and attendees are encouraged to remain after the conference and visit the Moravian Historical Society in nearby Nazareth, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 20 between 1:00 and 4:00 pm. Ride sharing opportunities will be discussed during the conference.
Book and Gift Sales: Please visit the Moravian Archives Reading Room throughout the conference for special displays featuring a variety of books, CDs, and gift items available for purchase from Moravian Theological Seminary and Penn State University Press. Complimentary snacks and beverages are also available at the Moravian Archives during conference hours.