The 1788 Gemeinhaus Church is the only Moravian church with attached living quarters remaining in the United States.
And to Him we
sound forth praise,
That within this building holy
We may seek
through all our days
Strength to love and serve Him solely
(From the musical ode consecrating the building)
The crown jewel of Historic Bethbara Park is the restored 1788 Gemeinhaus. The Gemeinhaus was not only a church but also a meeting place, school, and minister’s house. Some of its period furnishings are original to the building.
The Gemeinhaus was not just a worship space for Moravians in Bethabara, but also served as a residence for the minister and his family. Built in 1788, the current Gemeinhaus replaced an original log structure built in 1756 that was located nearby, the foundation of which can be seen today.
The “Lot” decided the exact location of the 1788 Gemeinhaus. This is a method of decision making employed by the early Moravians on many aspects of life: several possible solutions to a question are placed in a lot box and the one selected was prayerfully respected as the Lord’s decision.
A quote from the Moravian records:
“The Saviour approves that the Gemeinsaal in Bethabara should be built along the street in Stach’s garden.”
The architect for the project, Frederic William Marshall, submitted plans on January 4, 1788 and, with the whole congregation in attendance, the foundation stone was laid April 8, 1788. Both Moravian and non-Moravian workers were hired; Moravians were paid 9 shillings and non-Moravians 8 shillings, with room and board provided.
With only eighteen families in the Bethabara congregation, the minister, Jacob Ernst, requested financial help from the Moravian congregations in Pennsylvania to allow the church to be completed without going into debt; however, no help was received.
Stone was quarried from a farm south of town and the timbers fashioned using broadaxe and adz. Yellow poplar shingles were used on the roof. The gutters, also made of yellow popular, were tarred on the inside and painted red on the outside.
The Gemeinhaus took a little less than a year to construct, with the consecration of the new building taking place on November 26, 1788.
The 1788 Gemeinhaus served the Bethabara Moravian congregation until 1953, fully two hundred years after the founding of the community. The new, replacement church was built at the intersection of Bethabara Road and Indiana Boulevard.
Restoration of the Gemeinhaus took place in 1969-70 and the restored Gemeinhaus and the new Historic Bethabara Park were dedicated on Sunday, April 25, 1971. Today, employees of the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department serve as administrators.
The Rooms
The School room: The schoolroom was used for other purposes also, such as the making of love-feast coffee. The school, itself, moved out of the Gemeinhaus in 1805.
The Parlor: The front room was the minister’s parlor in the early days of the Gemeinhaus. By 1849, the “parlor” had moved to the old school room in the back of the structure.
The Upstairs Bedroom: The upstairs bedroom was used for visiting church workers. Strangers (non-Moravians) never stayed in the Gemeinhaus, instead being housed in the tavern. (The rest of the upstairs was used for storage of church equipment, such as the gravedigger’s tools and personal property of the minister.)
The Kitchen, Saal, and Downstairs Bedroom: These rooms were always used as their names imply. In a more modern era, the back wall of the Saal was removed to enlarge the size of the sanctuary; it was replaced during the 1969-70 restoration.