This week in Christian history: ‘The Great Ejection,' LCMS founder dies, first Moravian missionaries

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Sunday, August 17, 2025

First Moravian missionaries commissioned – Aug. 21, 1732

David Nitschmann (1696-1772), a Moravian Church bishop who in 1732 became one of the first missionaries for the denomination. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when the Moravian Church, which is also known as the Moravian Brethren, sent out its first two official missionaries.

The effort began when Moravian leader Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf learned about the need for evangelism among the slave population of the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.

Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann were commissioned by church leaders for the work, leaving Herrnhut, Germany, and arriving at the island that December.

“Nitschmann returned to Europe four months later; Dober remained until 1734 when he was called back to become General Elder, a position he would hold until September of 1741,” explained a newsletter of the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem in 2006.

“After Zinzendorf's death Dober became a member of the Directorate of the Unity — a position he held until he passed away in Herrnhut on April 1, 1766.”

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