The fourth and last service of the day was given up to song, a discourse, and prayer.
On Sunday, March 11th, after morning prayers, Wesley went to Tybee for an interview
with General Oglethorpe. At a general gathering of the Moravians later in the day, the
second chapter of Acts was read, with special reference to the last four verses, and the
description of the first congregation of Christ's followers, when «all that believed were
together, and had all things common,» was taken as the pattern of their «Gemeinschaft».
This plan, which had already been tested during the first year, proved so advantageous that it
was later adopted by other American Moravian settlements, being largely responsible for
their rapid growth during their early years, though in each case there came a time when it
hindered further progress, and was therefore abandoned. In religious matters, the
organization of the Savannah Congregation had been modeled after that at Herrnhut, so far
as possible, but in material things the circumstances were very different. At Herrnhut the
estates of Count Zinzendorf, under the able supervision of the Countess, were made to pay
practically all the general Church expenses, and many of the members were in the service of
the Saxon nobleman, Nicholas Lewis, Count Zinzendorf, in various humble positions, even
while in the Church he divested himself of his rank and fraternized with them as social
equals. But the men who emigrated to Georgia had undertaken to support themselves and
carry on a mission work, and Spangenberg, with his keen insight, grasped the idea that a
common purpose warranted a community of service, the labor of all for the benefit of all,
with every duty, no matter how menial, done as unto the Lord, whom they all, in varying
degrees, acknowledged as their Master. Later, in Bethlehem, Pa., with a larger number of
colonists, and wider interests to be subserved, Spangenberg again introduced the plan, and
elaborated it into a more or less intricate system, which is described in a clear and interesting
manner in «A History of Bethlehem», by Rt. Rev. J. Mortimer Levering, which has recently
been published.
Not only on account of its successor the «Oeconomie», at Bethlehem, and others copied
therefrom, but in view of the various modern attempts which have been and are still being
made to demonstrate that the action of the early Church at Jerusalem can be duplicated and
made financially successful, it is worth while to rescue the resolutions of the Moravian
Congregation at Savannah from the oblivion of the manuscript Diary, in which they have
been so long concealed, noting the claim that this was the first time since Apostolic days,
that a Congregation had formed itself into such a «Society», – a «Gemeinschaft».
«In our gathering we read Acts 2, and spoke of the `Gemeinschaft', for we are planning
to work, to sow and reap, and to suffer with one another. This will be very useful, for many
a man who has not understood or exerted himself, will by this means see himself and be led
to improve. Others also will see from it that we love each other, and will glorify the Father
in Heaven. There has been no »society« like that at Jerusalem, but at this present time it
becomes necessary, for material reasons. Were we only individuals all would fear to give
one of us credit, for they would think, `he might die', but nothing will be denied the
`Society', for each stands for the other. Each member must work diligently, since he does not
Moravians in Georgia, The
Chapter IV. Reinforcements. 76