The Refugees Who Became a Movement

In 1722, a ragged band of Protestant refugees from Moravia arrived on the estate of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Saxony. They had nothing — no church building, no organizational structure, no reputation. They were carpenters, weavers, and farmers fleeing persecution, speaking different dialects, carrying different traditions. Zinzendorf gave them land on a hill called Herrnhut, meaning "the Lord's watch."…