• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Moravian Archives, Winston-Salem, NC

since 1753, documenting
our churches, our families, our communities

  • About
    • Our Mission, Our Witness
    • Our History, Governing Commission, and Staff
    • The Archie K. Davis Center
    • Brochures, Forms, Flyers
    • Work Study and Internships with Us
  • Our Churches
    • The Moravian Church, Then and Now
    • Southern Province and Salem Congregation
    • The Wachovia Moravian
    • Our Local Churches and Fellowships
    • For Churches and Church Agencies Adding Records
    • Moravian Archives Sunday
  • Family History
    • Our Memoir Collection
    • Reading Room Computer Resources
    • The Genealogy Bookshelves
    • Family History Docent Program
  • Research
    • Searching our Collections
    • Selected Moravian Bibliography
    • Research Studies Sampler
    • Research Policies and Application Form
    • Helpful Links
    • Moravian Studies Collaborative
  • Services
    • Free Services For All Guests
    • Image Reproduction Services
    • Permissions For Use
    • Remote Ordering of Memoirs
    • Staff Research on Your Topic
  • Products
    • Book Series: Records of the Moravians in North Carolina
    • Book Series: Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees
    • Bookstore & More: Items For Sale
    • Exhibits
      • The Languages of Flowers in Moravian Wachovia
      • The Botanizers of Salem, 1785-1835
    • Lunchtime Lectures
    • Archives Monthly E-newsletter
  • Supporters
    • Ways to Donate and Support
    • Rev. Dr. C. Daniel Crews Friends Fund – Annual Budget
    • Technology Fund – Computers and Software
    • Book Fund – Collection Maintenance
    • Endowment Fund – Long-Term Reserves
    • Sustainers – Planned Giving
    • Collectors – Gifts in Kind
    • Volunteers – Working Alongside Us
    • Annotations, Our Supporters Newsletter
  • Find Us
    • Contact and Visit Information
    • Site Map

St. Philips Moravian Church

The seventh oldest church in the Southern Province was born as a mission to fill a great need. In 1822 Salem’s Female Missionary Society noted the absence of religious opportunity for the “Negroes” — the slaves — “in this neighborhood,” and urged the Provincial Elders Conference to address the matter so that “in the course of time . . . a Church may be built for their own use.”

PEC agreed, and called upon someone who could turn a vision into reality — Br. Abraham Steiner, a veteran of mission service. Br. Steiner held the first service on March 24, 1822, and at the May 5 meeting announced “a beginning of a small congregation of colored people” with three communicants. The following year the church members and others gathered to build a little log church. It was consecrated on December 28, 1823, with dignitaries, church band, and about 90 African Americans in attendance.

In the late 1850’s on the eve of the Civil War, the congregation experienced a renewal so that a larger church was called for. A handsome brick church arose, and was filled to capacity for the consecration service on December 15, 1861. It must have been a grand and proud day for the congregation at war’s end when on May 21, 1865, the Rev. Seth G. Clark of the 10th Ohio Cavalry formally announced emancipation in the now former slave church in Salem.

Still the church did not have a name until at its Christmas lovefeast on December 20, 1914, Bishop Edward Rondthaler gave it the name St. Philips.

The congregation relocated to the Happy Hill neighborhood in 1952, and a chapel was built there in 1959. A highway construction forced another move in 1967 to Bon Air Avenue, where St. Philips continues today in service to the wider neighborhood, complete with day care center.

Meanwhile, St. Philips’ roots in Salem have not been forgotten. The 1823 log church has been reconstructed at the foot of Church Street, and the 1861 brick church — the oldest slave church still standing in North Carolina — is scheduled for careful preservation of the heritage that it holds for its congregation.

Primary Sidebar

Support our Annual Giving – Rev. Dr. C. Daniel Crews Friends Fund

Give to our Technology Fund

Monies will purchase new computers and software allowing the Archives to better access and share its holdings. We have reached our initial goal, but will still accept donations. More info here.




Shop our Bookstore

Follow us on Facebook

Subscribe to Our YouTube Videos

Visiting Us

Parking is in the northwest corner of the lot at the western end of SR 4326 (Rams Drive) off Salem Avenue. The same street serves as entry to the Elbertson Fine Arts Center at Salem College.  We are currently open by appointment only. Our hours are Mondays-Friday (excepting holidays), 9:30am – noon, 1;30-4:30pm. We invite you to contact us to plan your visit.

Contact Us

Moravian Archives
457 S. Church Street
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101

Phone: (336) 722-1742
Email: sparchives@mcsp.org

Copyright © 2022 · Executive Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in