Unity Women's Desk of the Moravian Church

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Unity Women's Desk of the Moravian Church Empowering Moravian women for global change. Working for Gender Justice and Human Rights for Women.

10/24/2026

In collaboration, the Board of World Mission (BWM), Moravian Ministries Foundation in America (MMFA) and the Commission on Congregational Development (CCD) have created a new micro-grant opportunity for congregations, with preference for youth planned and led projects. Projects should engage in the areas of Care for Creation, Care for Each Other and Care for Right Relationships, themes from the “Everyone Wants a Better World” curriculum written by the BWM Team based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

We encourage you to gather youth, young adults, congregational leaders, members, and community partners to listen, dream, and imagine what God may be calling you to create together.

The strongest proposals will demonstrate meaningful collaboration. Collaboration might include youth working alongside congregational boards, partnerships between neighboring congregations, or projects developed with schools, nonprofits, or community organizations. We hope to see projects that connect generations, ministries, congregations, and community organizations in ways that build relationships.

Up to ten $1,000 grants will be available. Priorities for the grant application are:
- meaningful collaboration among at least two groups, ministries, congregations, or community partners (each initiative will need one sponsoring organization to submit the grant application)
- active participation of project partners in planning and implementation
- focus on one of the three areas: Care for Creation, Care for Each Other, or Care for Right Relationships
- strong preference for projects that are led or co-led by youth and young adults
- opportunities to build lasting relationships and ongoing ministry beyond the grant period

Key Dates:
- Grant applications open on January 1, 2027
- Deadline for applications is February 28, 2027
- Grants will be awarded by April 5, 2027

Learn more at https://www.moravian.org/mission/betterworldmicrogrants/.

For more information about application submission, contact Laura Watson, Vice President/Director of Programs for the Moravian Ministries Foundation (336-725-2589/[email protected]).

10/24/2026

U.N. Sustainable Development Goal #5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. ⚥ When God creates humans, God creates male and female together, both in the likeness of God, both given the same, undifferentiated charge: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28).

The books of the Bible are influenced by the patriarchal context in which they were written, and our interpretation is also influenced by the modern patriarchal contexts in which we live today. Women appear throughout the Bible in a variety of leadership roles. For example, Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian woman, is the first person in the Bible to see and name God (Genesis 16:7-16); Miriam, Moses’ sister, is an Israelite prophet (Exodus 15:20-21); and Deborah is a judge (ruler) of Israel (Judges 4-5).

In the New Testament, women are disciples of Jesus, benefactors of the movement, the first witnesses to the resurrection, and the first evangelists.24 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna are disciples and financial contributors to Jesus' fellowship (Luke 8:1-3). In John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene is the first person to whom the resurrected Jesus appears, and she announces to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord" (John 20:11-18).

While we may be familiar with Paul, most of us miss the many women who work alongside him, including Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Mary, Prisca, Euodia, and Syntyche (Romans 16:3-12; Philippians 4:3). Well-to-do businesswomen and householders—such as Lydia, a trader in purple cloth who hosts Paul and his companions (Acts 16:11-15)—are a backbone of the Christian mission.

Women are not just present in the Bible, but occupy crucial positions as religious leaders, witnesses to the divine, material benefactors, and laborers in the Gospel.

Over the next few days, we will highlight:
⚥ A Moravian pastor named Maria
⚥ Education in Sierra Leone
⚥ Morongo Moravian Church's Campaign for No More Stolen Sisters or Brothers
⚥ Estamos Unidos Moravian Ministry

10/24/2026

Maria was born around 1705 as an enslaved woman on the West Indies island of St. Thomas. When she was in her thirties, she got to know the Moravian missionaries on the island and joined the mission. Her leadership skills were noticed, and in 1741 she became "vice-eldress" of all Moravian women on St. Thomas. The next year, she traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where she married Andrew, who had also been born on St. Thomas. Maria and Andrew continued to Germany, where they had a son, Michael, but within months of each other, both Andrew and Michael died. In 1745 Maria was ordained in the Moravian Church and was quite possibly the first Black woman to be ordained by a Christian church. As a widow, her ministry was the spiritual care of her fellow widows.

10/22/2026

The national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement, which has now rightfully expanded to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP), is deeply personal to Morongo Moravian Church members Jessica Espinoza and Erica Rios, two mothers raising Indigenous daughters and sons. They share the following testimony.

“As Indigenous mothers raising daughters and sons, one on an Indian reservation, the other in a Native American household, we carry both love and fear every single day, knowing the world does not always protect our children the way it should. Our children move through a world that has too often ignored the safety, dignity, and humanity of Indigenous peoples. That reality shapes how we pray, how we teach, and how we hope. When we think of MMIP, we think of the families who never received answers, the mothers who searched on their own, and the communities who held vigils instead of celebrations. Each missing person is a whole world taken—someone who should have grown old, raised children, shared stories, and carried culture forward. The grief is generational, but so is the strength.

“As mothers, our reflection is rooted in both sorrow and fierce determination. We want our children to inherit a future where Indigenous lives are protected, where justice systems respond with urgency, and where our communities are no longer forced to shout to be heard. Honoring MMIP means refusing to let silence win. It means standing together as Native, Indigenous families, allies, and communities so that our daughters and sons grow up knowing they are sacred, valued, and safe. As mothers, we refuse to be—or allow our daughters and sons to become—another statistic. We stand firmly with our Native brothers and sisters, committed to protecting our children and fighting for justice. Understanding the importance of MMIP is essential to honoring those we’ve lost, supporting the families still searching, and ensuring that our communities are seen, heard, and protected.”

Morongo Moravian Church is on the Morongo Reservation in Banning, California.

Our dear Sister Nasel is being consecrated as Bishop of the Moravian Unity Today! You can watch live on Facebook or You...
10/18/2026

Our dear Sister Nasel is being consecrated as Bishop of the Moravian Unity Today! You can watch live on Facebook or YouTube.

We're so happy Salem College student Dakota has returned to work in the Global Market part-time this semester! Dakota i...
09/18/2026

We're so happy Salem College student Dakota has returned to work in the Global Market part-time this semester! Dakota is a sophomore from Monroe, NC majoring in Interior Design. Stop by and say hi and pick up some gifts for your family or friends - or for yourself!

Proceeds support scholarships for girls and women in Moravian Provinces from Nepal to Honduras!

Winston-Salem Friends! Please join us for a special celebration of Human Rights Day this Saturday Aug 22 sponsored by C...
08/19/2026

Winston-Salem Friends! Please join us for a special celebration of Human Rights Day this Saturday Aug 22 sponsored by Church Women United. Details below!

The Moravian Global Market in Old Salem is Closed Until August 28. We can't wait to welcome you back then!
08/15/2026

The Moravian Global Market in Old Salem is Closed Until August 28. We can't wait to welcome you back then!

Address

459 S Church Street
Winston-Salem, NC
27101

Telephone

+13364226810

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