Moravians as Missional Public Theologians

ABSTRACT This essay addresses how the Moravian Church Northern Province lived out its faith and values in the public square, and how it is expressing its values today. Over the past fifty years, the theological landscape in the Moravian Church in North America has been moving outward in ever widening circles, both as it understands God and God’s mission to the world, and how it expresses God’s radical embrace of all people. While this expansion began in the late twentieth century, it continued at a faster pace in the early twenty-first century as a result of cultural context and growing reflection upon God’s call to God’s people. This essay will explore the intersection of missional ecclesiology and public theology as it relates to how the church speaks to the world today. The essay is an edited version of a Moses lecture that was delivered at Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, PA, on October 22, 2024, just ten days prior to the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in which Donald Trump was elected president of the United States of America.