J. Eric Elliott

The Provincial Elders Conference has approved designating April 26 “Moravian Archives Sunday,” to offer prayers for the Southern Province Archives and to request support for its ongoing mission as its record keeper.  Information to aid in the celebration of this day at Moravian congregations will be sent to pastors in early February.  Our Archives Commission is grateful for local church support as we celebrate our Church’s commitment to preserving the witness of Brothers and Sisters who have gone before and to gathering the stories of today’s church work.  Prayers are also requested for the Archives Commission as it meets in an annual planning retreat on February 8.

On February 13 Moravian Music Foundation Research Librarian Dave Blum will speak from 12:15-1:00pm in the Spaugh Lecture/Recital Hall at our offices in the Archie K. Davis Center on “From Russia, with Love (of Sacred Choral Music)”: composer and organist Johann Wilhelm Haessler.”  Archivist Eric Elliott speaks at two outside events this month: Friedberg Church’s Brother’s Fellowship Prayer Breakfast on February 9; at the D.A.R. meeting at Centenary UMC on February 21.  If you’d like an Archives presentation at your church or meeting, please contact us.   No charge for any church event, and a modest honorarium for other outside events.

“Nurturing the Gardeners of Wachovia,” an exhibit created by the Archives and sponsored by the Garden Club Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and Old Salem Garden Club, opens at the Archives in the second half of this month. “The Botanizers of Salem,” an exhibit on locals who contributed to the early study of plants in America, continues its showing at Historic Bethania’s Alpha Chapel this month. 

Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship, Laurel Springs, NC, welcomes you to join them on a tour of Bethlehem, Lititz, and Nazareth from March 18-21, 2020–the origin of 18th Century Moravian journeys to North Carolina. Also, the group will:  hear a presentation by the Rev. Drs. Craig Atwood and Riddick Weber at the seminary to better understand what Moravians believe then and today;  tour the Bethlehem Moravian Archives, including the vault where historical, original documents are stored; and visit the Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown, PA and the Bethlehem Steel Stacks.  Full payment must be received by February 12. Contact Wanda Byerly at wmbyerly1971@gmail.com for more info on price and details of the trip.

In the new year, we are requesting that all our guests contact us in advance before a research visit so that we can match limited staff and volunteer time to your needs. We will be open to the public Mondays through Thursdays: from 9:30am-noon, appointments requested but not required; and 1:30-430pm, with appointments required, so that we are free to work on processing and other matters when we have no scheduled guests.  Pastors who call us requesting daily texts or other info in the afternoons may need to leave us a voice mail when we are processing in the vault.  We will return your call with information when we check phones after 4pm.