The Moravian Church Northern Province believes that all of humankind is made in the image of God and declared good by God (Genesis 1:26-31).
Our church welcomes all those who seek to be fully themselves before God. We affirm the dignity and rights of persons of all gender identities and sexual orientation. We believe this because we understand that all people are children of God and all enjoy the grace of God that is given freely. All are welcome to be full members of our church and may enjoy all aspects of the life of the church including ordination and the rite of marriage.
We are a global church and we understand that not all provinces of our Moravian Church share this understanding. This is the understanding of the Moravian Church Northern Province, inclusive of our churches in Canada and the Northern United States.
Since 1970 the Moravian Church of America, Northern Province has had a stated position on Abortion. This came after many years of conversation, biblical reflection, and theological discernment at the congregational level. I was not around for this, but I am told that these conversations were not easy and often fraught with emotion, as one would expect. As a woman, I would never see abortion as a desire or goal, nor would I treat it lightly and without extensive consideration of all the resources that I have.
As an older sister to two adopted brothers, I am grateful for the very difficult decision their very young mothers made. I do not know the circumstances of my brothers’ birth mothers; maybe it was decision that was forced upon them by family or lack of access to needed resources or lack of access to abortion. It may have been a decision they made because of their faith and religious ideals. I do not know and I never will.
Abortions should be viewed in the perspective of bringing mercy to a difficult situation where others options may be more destructive of human life and spirit.
The Bible does not speak directly to the issues of abortion and neither condemns or condones the act
The Moravian Church refrains from being dogmatic when a Biblical position is not clear
Neither science nor religion has claimed to fully understand the mystery of life or reached a decision as to when the life of an individual begins
What I know is that my church has said the following about abortion over the years:
We respect differences in religious beliefs concerning abortion and oppose, in accord with the principle of religious liberty, any legislation which would stipulate a specific religious opinion or belief concerning abortion upon all Americans.
The Moravian Church believes in the sacredness of life and the quality of life. We believe that abortion should not be used as a method of birth control nor as a means of controlling population
What I do know is that in the church that I serve here in Waconia, there would never be a circumstance in which a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy would be shunned or condemned. Neither would there be a circumstance in which a woman making the difficult decision to end a pregnancy would ever find herself judged as committing a sin.
Our guiding principle is this:
In Essentials, Unity; In Non-essentials, Liberty; and In all things Love.