WEST SIDE MORAVIAN CHURCH

Dear West Side Friends and Members, 

2026 will be a year of transition here in our West Side Church facility. 

We will welcome the Moravian Church Center into the lower level of our building and say a fond farewell to A Child's Choice Montessori School. 

We have included a letter from Rev Dave Bennett at the Church Center with details related to the move, please take a moment to read through it. 

While we are excited to be partnering with the Church Center, we are also sad to say goodbye to the Montessori School. Director Erin Valva and her staff have led an outstanding program and we will certainly miss their presence. 

West Side will continue to be a place for weekly worship, prayer, study, community, and recovery. 

We take serving our community very seriously and look forward to the new things God is doing in this place.

peace and hope, 

Pastor Tammie  

 

Greetings in the name of our Chief Elder, Jesus Christ. 

           Following significant discernment and study, The Northern Province Provincial Elders’ Conference has reached the decision to sell the province’s current Moravian Church Center property at 1021 Center St. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and make the move to a facility which better meets our size and location needs.

           The West Side Moravian Church of Bethlehem, continuing in its ministry of hospitality, has welcomed us to outfit office and conference room space at their property, which will become the new location for the Moravian Church Center at some point in the year 2027.  It is important to note that the West Side Moravian congregation will continue in its ministry at their current location and will simply be sharing the facility with the MCNP.

           This decision comes with the recognition that the Church Center is not being fully utilized.  Not unlike the rest of the world around us, the work challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the expanded use of video conferencing and remote work technology that became woven into the daily working structure of our Church Center staff.  Except for the Interprovincial Board of Communications (IBOC), which rents office and shipping room space from the MCNP, most of our staff now work remotely and have done so effectively for the last 45 years. In addition, the Provincial Elders themselves conduct most of their meetings via video conferencing, complemented by in-person meetings only once per quarter.

           While working remotely, the Church Center staff still meets in person once a week to update one another on projects and collaborate on matters which would benefit from in-person conversations.  This working structure has served us well and has now been tested over time.

           We also recognize that the Church Center facility was designed for an earlier day when we had larger staff numbers and designated ministry departments in support of our provincial ministries. Those departments ceased existence decades ago or their work was assumed by other ministries, and the Church Center facility has become more vacant with time.  Additionally, the building itself requires continuous upkeep, which is a heavy draw upon provincial finances.

           While provincial staff will no longer be in the Church Center, current negotiations with a buyer for the 1021 Center St. property have resulted in an agreement that the IBOC will remain at their present location and benefit from the full use of their current office, storage and shipping room space.  Other agencies currently using the Church Center, including the Board of World Mission and Moravian Music Foundation, will relocate their operations with this sale.

           This move to “right-size” our working space will forge a new partnership with West Side, one of our own Moravian congregations; establish office and conference room space better suited for our current needs; and see the Church Center property be put to a better use.   The Northern Province and affected agencies will share additional information as these transitions come closer to finalization and detailed timelines are determined.

           In closing, the Provincial Elders’ Conference members discerned this matter carefully, in a spirit of prayer and ministry vision.  Feeling led to reside in the context of a congregational setting and in close proximity to an emerging ministry (Essentials Café), while at the same time considering the burdensome costs of a large, underutilized facility, a desire for more effective partnership and stewardship led us to this final decision.   We seek your prayers as we live into this new adventure in the years ahead.

Blessings,

Rev. David E. Bennett President