The establishment of the Moravian church as a Christian church occurred as a reaction against certain alleged errors within the Roman Catholic church. This movement was started by a priest named Jan Hus. Bohemia and Moravia had been Orthodox, and had been forced to convert to Catholicism, even though Rome said that it recognized the Orthodox presence in the area. Jan Hus simply wanted to return the church in Bohemia and Moravia to the practices it had under Orthodoxy; namely married priests, liturgy in the language of the people, lay people receiving communion in both kinds, and the elimination of indulgences and the idea of purgatory. This movement had royal support and a certain independence for a while but was eventually forced to be subject to Rome. Some of the Hussites struck a deal with Rome that allowed them most of what they wanted. These were called the Utraquists. The other followers of Hus remained outside Roman Catholicism and within fifty years of Hus's death organized the Bohemian Brethren or Unity of the Brethren. The Moravians were some of the earliest Protestants, rebelling against the authority of Rome more than a hundred years before Martin Luther.
See also: Hussite
The motto of the Moravian church is:
In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, love.
The American Moravian church website is at:
" class="external">http://www.moravian.org/ The Alaska Moravian church website is at:
" class="external">http://www.moravianmission.org/alaska.htm Information about Moravians in Labrador can be found at: