Unity Board 2026

The Unity Board gathered in Calgary, Canada from 07–09 September 2026 under the theme: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5: 9, bringing together provincial leaders from across the worldwide Moravian Unity. Not everyone who should have been around the table was able to be here. Unfortunately, several representatives were unable to secure visas. As a result, the majority of our representatives from the African Region gathered in Dar es Salaam, and the group in Calgary and the group in Dar es Salaam met online.

During these days, we listened to reports from across the Unity. We heard much for which we give thanks to God, alongside significant financial, political, and ministerial challenges. We recognise that our circumstances differ greatly, but Unity Board 2026 reaffirmed that no Province lives or serves entirely on its own.

Our discussions also led us to consider what it means to be a worldwide Moravian Unity. For us, unity is not simply about being in the same room, nor does it mean we agree on everything. Unity is demonstrated by our determination to remain in relationship with one another. This requires us to listen honestly and to recognise our responsibilities to one another.

As part of the work of the Unity Board, we also prepared for a transition in the leadership of the Unity Executive Committee (UEC). We give our sincere thanks to the outgoing UEC, led by Sr. Roberta Hoey (British Province) as the incumbent Unity Board President, whose term of office concludes at the end of December 2026. We are grateful for their leadership, service, and commitment to the worldwide Unity during this past term.

The newly elected UEC will serve from January 2027 until December 2028. The new UEC comprises Br. Lizwi Mtumtum (South Africa Province), elected as the next Unity Board President; Br. Algernon Lewis (East and West Indies Province), elected as Unity Board Vice President; Sr. Roberta Hoey (British Province); Br. Dave Bennett (North America Province); and Br. Jørgen Bøytler, the Unity Board Administrator. We entrust this new leadership team to the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit as it takes up its responsibilities in service of the worldwide Moravian Unity in January 2027.

The Unity Board also decided to change the title of the Unity Board Administrator to Moravian Unity General Secretary. This change more accurately reflects the nature and scope of the work carried out in support of the worldwide Unity and brings the title into greater alignment with the terminology used by other ecumenical bodies with which we work. We give thanks for the continuing service and commitment of Br. Jørgen Bøytler in this important ministry.

Another important conversation that continued at this meeting concerned the Moravian Church’s historical relationship with slavery and the enslavement of people, a matter which was also discussed at Unity Synod 2023. Significant work has already begun in different parts of the Unity to examine this shared history, but the Unity Board recognises that we must go further than simply acknowledging a difficult past. We recognise the complicity of the Moravian Church in slavery and in the systems that sustained it.

As a worldwide Unity, we need to work together towards an appropriate apology and efforts towards reconciliation. This must include listening to communities whose histories have been shaped by enslavement and its continuing consequences and recognising the ways in which colonial histories and imbalances of power have shaped our relationships within our worldwide Church.

Under our theme, we returned during our meeting to the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” We are living through a time in which the world is being reordered around us, with conflict, division and changing relationships between nations and peoples. Our Ground of the Unity reminds us that we may not withdraw from the world through indifference, pride or fear, but are called to work for peace. In such a world, peacemaking cannot be peripheral to our calling. It asks us how we live with differences, how we address what divides or wounds us, and what reconciles us, so that the Moravian Church can bear faithful witness to the peace of Christ.

As we look towards 2027 and the 300th anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on August 13, 1727, which renewed our Church in Herrnhut, we must not merely recall what happened three centuries ago but prayerfully discern how the Holy Spirit is leading us into renewal now.

May the Holy Spirit continue to disturb, reconcile, and awaken us, drawing us deeper into relationship with one another, and sending us out into the world as peacemakers.

We left Calgary and Dar es Salaam thankful for the life and witness of the Moravian Church across the world, and we are ready for the tasks entrusted to us. We ask you to pray for one another and for our worldwide Unity, that we may remain faithful to Christ, open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and passionate Peacemakers by the grace of God.

Jesus still leads on! Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him!

The Unity Board, September 2026.