History

Lancaster Moravian History:

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The original location of the Lancaster Moravian Congregation was 30 W. Orange Street, Lancaster, PA, from 1746 -1967.

From 1967-2014, the congregation resided at 1460 Eden Road, Lancaster, PA. After a long period of discernment, in March of 2014 the congregation sold the building and began renovations to their current location, 227 N. Queen Street, right above the bus station.

This location was ready to be moved into in October of 2015. The new space was named The Moravian Center of Lancaster, which is home to the Lancaster Moravian Congregation and the Moravian Center Adult Day Program.

In that more than 270 year history, the congregation has been served by 56 clergymen. In November of 2017, after a brief period of time without a pastor, the congregation called Mandy Mastros, a new graduate of Moravian Theological Seminary and a licensed social worker, as the pastor for the congregation and the chaplain for the adult day program. She joined the staff of administrative assistant and bookkeeper .

A Worldwide Church – Today, there are more than one million members of the Moravian Church in the world. Most of them live in eastern Africa. Other major Moravian centers include the Caribbean basin (U.S. Virgin Islands, Antigua, Jamaica, Tobago, Surinam, Guyana, St. Kitts, and the Miskito Coast of Honduras and Nicaragua), South Africa, Winston-Salem, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  The church in North America numbers only about 60,000 (including Canada, Alaska, Labrador). We are geographically broken down into 19 Unity Provinces, in addition to Mission Provinces and Unity Undertakings. 

 We recognize mission as more than an obligation; it is a defining call of our relationship with God and with our fellow neighbor.  To live our call to mission, Moravians understand that action, rather than mere intention, is essential.  Moravians also understand mission as bringing people to Christ, rather than to Moravian membership, as the primary goal. We currently have missions throughout the world. Lancaster Moravian Church assists these missions through donations to Board of World Missions.

Want to learn more about Moravians? Read about out rich history here: