This week in Christian history: Massachusetts bans Christmas, YMCA founder born

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 07, 2023

Important Moravian Church leader dies – May 9, 1760

An illustration showing Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), Moravian Church leader, preaching to a diverse group of people. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, a prominent German leader in the Moravian community, died a couple of weeks shy of his 60th birthday.

Zinzendorf was a member of the Lutheran Church, but his particular brand was influenced by the Pietist movement, which stressed the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

He became a prominent leader for the Moravians, a Christian community influenced by the Pietists, setting up a local chapter and supporting missionary activities abroad.

Zinzendorf spent his waning days in the German town of Herrnhut, conveying some of his last words to Moravian Bishop David Nitschmann.

“Did you suppose in the beginning that the Savior would do as much as we now really see, in the various Moravian settlements, amongst the children of God of other denominations and amongst the heathen?” Zinzendorf reportedly said near the end of his life.

“I only entreated of him a few of the firstfruits of the latter, but there are now thousands of them. Nitschmann, what a formidable caravan from our church already stands around the Lamb!”