A beacon of hope

The Hope Center in Albion, Illinois has a broad mission to serve the needs of their community and the surrounding towns. One of those towns is West Salem, where our Illinois Moravians worship. I had an opportunity to visit the center last month and speak with Steve Smith, the Director. Started as a pregnancy support…

What’s cooking at Essentials Café?

Moravians are cooking up something good at Essentials Café. And there are never too many cooks in the kitchen. In fact, a number of local congregations and organizations are supporting this new “pay-what-you-can” food ministry. It’s an Emerging Ministry of the Moravian Church in America, Northern Province. If you’ve made a gift to the Hunger…

Canceled debt

Debt forgiveness is one of the oldest requirements of God’s people (see Deuteronomy 15:1-2). And if you have contributed to the Moravian Healing & Health Field of Interest Fund, you have honored and participated in this act of mercy. In 2022 Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, NC received a grant for $2,500 from this Healing…

Estamos Unidos shares more than a meal

Estamos Unidos Imagine feeling unsafe in your neighborhood. Imagine not fitting in with your peers. Imagine being discriminated against because of the color of your skin. Imagine experiencing food insecurity. Imagine encountering language and cultural barriers every day. Now imagine having a place to go where you know you’ll be ok. Imagine connecting with others…

Welcoming all to Tricklebee Café

In his book “Having Nothing, Possessing Everything,” the Rev. Michael Mather poses this question: “What does it look like to live as if the gospel were true?” When you visit Tricklebee Café, you find an answer. Located in a Milwaukee neighborhood that has experienced violence and neglect, Tricklebee is a pay-what-you-can community café offering healthy…

Fighting hunger in Albania

For the past six years, Home Moravian Church has partnered with The Moravian Church in Albania to minister to residents of Bathore. Bathore is an informal area created after the 1990’s as people from rural areas of northern Albania looked for a better life. The Rev. Dana Myers, a founding member of the Home Moravian…

The freezer is always open

Eleven years ago, East Hills Moravian Church started a freezer ministry to provide meals to members or neighbors in a time of need. Frozen meals were also made available when others in need came knocking at the church door. Over time, East Hills’ meal production expanded to approximately 3,000 meals a year. When Covid hit…

Bethabara Food Pantry provides needed support

The Bethabara Moravian Food Pantry is an important source of food assistance in the church’s neighborhood. Averaging 40 families a month at the end of 2022 (an increase of 12 to 15 families over the prior four months), the Pantry serves the immediate area as well as some people from southern Forsyth County. Thanks to…

Grant provides food security

For over forty years Sunnyside Ministry’s food pantry has been living Matthew 25:35. “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.” The pantry is a source of food security for many in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Winston-Salem, NC. It’s open five days a week and often provides food to as many as…