Moravian Music Festival for Youth

The Moravian Music Festival was held in Makkovik this year, from June 29 to July 2. This is the third year for the event. It was made possible thanks to a donation from Rev. Dr. Brigitte Schloss. Smaller donations were also received from Aurora Energy and Nunatsiavut Government’s Recreation Fund.

Poor flying weather played havoc with our schedule, and Nain was unable to travel at all. Christopher Guindon and four members of Nain’s school brass band plan to reschedule for late August or sometime in September. At that time they will play in church.

Rev. Glenna Tasedan of Happy Valley Moravian brought four members of her hand chimes group, and Nancy Barfoot brought four members of the Boys and Girls Brigade in Hopedale. They joined the Sunday School children of Makkovik, as well as two of Natalie Jacque’s violin students, for workshops and a concert. Besides workshops in vocal, violin, and hand chimes, Andrea Andersen of Makkovik instructed groups in use of the Inuit drum as a percussion instrument to accompany some favorite hymns chosen by the participants.

The Music Festival was dedicated to two fine musicians who served their churches for many years, but passed away in January: Amos Lyall and Inga Andersen. Amos was the former Vice Chair of the Provincial Board for the Moravian Church in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was also an acolyte for the Happy Valley Moravian, and organist on many occasions. Inga learned to play the organ in 1932 and continued to do so for over 60 years. Throughout her life, Inga served the Makkovik church well by being a Chapel Servant for many years and remained a Lifetime Chapel Servant until her death. In 2009, at the age of 95, Aunt Inga played on stage alongside her brother Jim (age 90), to visitors from a cruise ship. Her passion for music will be missed by all.

After the concert held in church on June 30, the participants were able to take part in the Canada Day activities in Makkovik, as well as tour the museum, fish plant, and walk Poet’s Path.

A welcome to Sr Glenna & Br George Tasedan

Someone has answered the call!

The Moravian Church in Labrador is pleased to announce that we now have an ordained minister to serve the congregation in Happy Valley.

She is Rev. Glenna Tasedan. Glenna and her husband George drove from their home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to take up their post, arriving on February 12. The weather was not the best as they trekked across the Trans-Labrador Highway. Their UHaul went off the road twice! But thanks to travelers who stopped to help, they arrived safe and sound.

We would like to say a big thank you to Ron and Miriam Lyall who drove from Happy Valley right into Quebec to meet them.

Bishop Paul Graf officiated at the ordination ceremony which took place on February 14, 2010, at the eleven o’clock service in Happy Valley. Also present was his wife Jane, and Loren Jendro, North Dakota, Labrador’s representative on the Board of World Mission.

The Provincial Board is happy to welcome Glenna to serve in our Moravian Province, and a hearty welcome to George. It is a big step they are taking. We trust that this move will be a good one. It will not be an easy time. They arrive just when the Moravian Church in Labrador is trying to promote the idea of greater stewardship.

We pray that their transition will be smooth and that they will find companionship and good will amongst the members of the Happy Valley congregation. Glenna is a talented musician and this gift will be a blessing to the congregation. She hopes to revive the choir and involve the youth through music ministry.

We wish her well.

Sr Joan Andersen

Rev David Dickinson

Labrador fondly remembers Rev. David Dickinson, who passed away after a long illness, October, 2009, in the UK.

He came to Makkovik as a student pastor in 1965. A handsome young man, only 23 years old, and soft spoken. A breath of fresh air amongst the dear old-timers, who were serving here at the time.

Rev. Dickinson wrote this from Fulneck in 1996: “Being called to Makkovik was something beyond my experience … because it was such a different life to the one I knew, I have a number of memories coming near to calamity. The one that stays in my mind the most is of an occasion when I took a walk to the south of Makkovik, across the Makkovik Brook, across the neck of land, and across the next bay. I really went too far, and as I reached the top of the forest to the south side of the bay, and looked on a series of islands, the sun went down. Dropping back down through the forest, I kept slipping into the boles of trees as I was not used to snowshoes and the shot gun I carried froze up. Curiously, I never felt in danger although I guess I was far from safe (and tired).

“As I came down to the rim of the bay, I saw the light of a snowmobile coming across the ice. It was Ted Andersen. My sense of relief was enormous. I was exhausted, with still a long way to go, and no certainty of making it.

“That day has stayed in my mind very clearly and it still reminds me of the degree of care our people on the coast have for one another.”

Rev. Dickinson endeared himself to other congregations that he served, in Hopedale and Happy Valley. He was easy to get along with, and people enjoyed the fact that he visited them in their homes.

He was an artist and his sketches were used to illustrate the booklet entitled “The Moravian Church in Labrador” that was printed in our bicentennial year, 1971.

We in Labrador take comfort in knowing his pain is over. May he rest in God’s peace.

Sr Joan Andersen

Official Launch of the Inuktitut Bible (part 1)

On January 20, 2009, the Inuktitut Bible "Gudib UKausingit" was officially launched at a ceremony in Happy Valley. An Inuktitut Bible has existed in the past, but in ten volumes. They had been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Now the Bible is contained in one book. The publication was made possible thanks to funding received from the Tasiujatsoak Trust.


Hart Wiens of the Canadian Bible Society told of their involvement in the project. A video was made during the Launch, and it can be seen at www.biblesociety.ca


Julius Ikkusek of Nain expressed his appreciation for having the Inuktitut Bible under one cover.




The translators expressed their joy at seeing the completed Bible under one cover.




Rev. Brian Burrows (Hopedale) and Bishop Paul Graf (Wisconsin) conducted the bilingual service at the Moravian Church in Happy Valley.

Official Launch of the Inuktitut Bible

The Bible has existed in the Inuktitut language for a long time, but in seven separate books. The Bible is now under one cover, and the official launch of the newly printed “Gûdib oKausingit” will take place on January 20, 2009 at the Moravian Church in Happy Valley.

This project was made possible by the Canadian Bible Society (CBS)and funding from the Tasiujatsoak Trust, as well as private donors.

Hart Wiens and Ed Peters from the CBS will be there. They did the training in the Paratext program with the translators, Sarah Townley, Hilda Lyall, Sophie Tuglavina, Amos Onalik, and Andrea Webb, along with Coordinator Sabina Hunter. After the launch, they will continue work on the second book in the “Walking with Jesus” series of children’s books.

Rev. John Duff, from St. John’s, will represent the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the CBS.

Two elders from each coastal congregation (Nain, Hopedale, Makkovik) are invited to attend. All will take part in a service conducted largely in Inuktitut.

We look forward also to the visit of Bishop Paul Graf from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He is coming to commission Glenna Tasedan for her work term as lay pastor in Labrador, and will stay for the Launch.

Conference Highlights

Here are some highlights from the Provincial Conference of the Moravian Church in NL that was held in Nain, March 4-6, 2008.

* It was great to have Bishop Paul Graf attend our conference. He held the devotionals each day, and could speak to spiritual issues as they came up, with much wisdom.

* Bishop Graf was able to hold congregational meetings in Makkovik, Nain, and Happy Valley. Bad weather kept us from getting to Hopedale on Thursday. However, Bishop Sam Gray will be visiting Hopedale the week of July 7th, so that will hopefully make up for it.

* The conference went very well in Nain. We are especially grateful to the translators/interpreters, Katie Winters and K. Naeme Tuglavina, who did the simultaneous translation. This made the conference flow very smoothly. It was also great to have the use of the Nunatsiavut Government board room, so aesthetically pleasing, spacious and comfortable. And equipped with the microphones and headphones for translation.

* We got to meet representatives from each community, and to share reports from each congregation. We share similar concerns: small attendance, no ordained ministers, not much support for the few volunteers who keep the churches going. Hopedale has great involvement from youth on the last Sunday in each month. The school concert band, under the direction of Nicole Burt-Shuglo, accompany all the hymns at these services. Happy Valley has outreach with the Correctional Center, the Pine Lodge residence, and the Paddon Home for Senior Citizens.

* We had a presentation from Heather Angnatok about programs offered by Nunatsiavut Government’s Youth Division. We are impressed with how the programs bring youth and elders together. We put forward the request that if we do get a minister to serve the congregation, he or she could partner with the Nunatsiavut Youth programs as a way of reaching out to youth, and strengthening the spiritual focus.

* We had a presentation from Gary Baikie impressing upon the church representatives the need to preserve the old church properties in Nain, since they are historical icons, and with Nain becoming the gateway to the Torngat National Park, it will be important to keep these heritage buildings, and be able to tell their story.

* We talked about the need for congregations to become more supportive financially. Each congregation is expected to pay an annual fee ($5000) (4500 for Makkovik) to the provincial treasury of the Moravian Church in NL.

* Each church brought their financial statements, and while they are all in good standing at present, if we ever do get ministers and have salaries to pay, each congregation will need to raise part of that expense. The overall aim is that the Labrador Moravian Church will become self-sufficient and be able to meet all its expenses. Right now, we still get a hefty sum from the American Board of World Mission, but they are decreasing it each year, in hopes that we can become independent of them.

* We accepted in principle the revised Book of Order. It was revised by Rev. Sam Propsom, and we have since added some amendments and inserts. Dr. Hans Rollmann revised the section on the early history of the Moravian Church.

* The Book of Order will include in its appendices the process that one would follow if he/she wishes to become a lay minister, or an ordained minister.

* We talked about the need for church repairs in at least three communities. Loren Jendro, Labrador’s representative on the Board of World Mission, hopes to get some work crews from the U.S. to help local congregation groups get repair work done during the summer.

* The Inuktitut Bible will be printed under one cover, and we hope to hold the launch at some time this year. Plans will be made for a launch to be held in Nain.

* The Coordinator position was extended for one more year, to be reassessed again before March 31, 2009.

Sr Joan Andersen

Birthday greetings to...

Happy Birthday, Brigitte Schloss!

October 3, 2007, Rev. Dr. Brigitte Schloss turns 80! And she is just a growing girl…..in knowledge, wisdom, and spirituality. She has her PhD but says that academics in itself don’t necessarily make you a good human being…..you have to listen, and learn, and keep on growing. And, she says, Labrador has taught her most of what she knows. This is where her heart really is, even though her health now keeps her from traveling north.

She came to Labrador as a missionary teacher in 1950, arriving in Makkovik on her birthday, where she taught for two years. Then three years in Nain. In 1955 “They made me leave Labrador to go on furlough!” but she couldn’t wait to get back. And in 1956 when she returned to Nain on the Winnifred Lee, as she rounded the bend, small boats were heading out to meet the ship. People in the small boats began calling her name and she knew she was back in “heaven”.

After Nain, she taught in Happy Valley (1959-1971) with time away to complete her B.A.(Ed.), and later her M.A. After that she went to Toronto/London, Ontario, to obtain her PhD in Language Teaching and Learning. Upon completion she became a Professor at MUN, and Co-ordinator of the TEPL Program. This position (1981-1988) got her straight back to Labrador where she always longs to be.

By this time she was interested in doing full time church work and obtained a terminal sabbatical.

In 1988 the Provincial Board of the Moravian Church in Labrador asked if she would do chaplaincy in St. John’s.

In 1988 also, she lost sight in one eye. This helped her decide to retire and devote more time to her church work. In 1995 she was ordained, in Nain, on her birthday!

Brigitte Schloss still visits in-patients at hospitals in St. John’s. She has had to give up pastoral visits to the penitentiary and Waterford Hospital, but enjoys meeting with Labradorians whenever they come to visit.

Just this weekend, she sent down a bag of knitted goods, her own handiwork, to contribute to the Ladies’ Sewing Circle sale here in Makkovik, but I know we are not the only community she does this for.

She continues to support lay ministers in each of the four churches in Labrador, and that is very highly appreciated.

If you are in St. John’s, you can catch her service the last Sunday of each month, at the chapel in the Health Science Center.

So it is with great pleasure that we wish Brigitte many blessings on her 80th birthday, from all her friends in Labrador!

Sr Joan Andersen
Chairperson, MCNL

Past photo's

Here are a couple of photo's taken and supplied by Sr Brigitte Schloss.

Two cannons overlooking Nain harbour. Photo taken in the 1980's. One cannon was moved here from Okak. They stood in front of the church and were fired to welcome the Harmony (Moravian Mission ship) when it arrived. They have since been buried under landfill.

This photo was taken in 1952 in Nain. It shows Rev. F. W. Peacock and Nain elder, Martin Martin, looking at the newly printed revised New Testament in the Inuktitut language. On the inside cover page, it reads: TESTAMENTITAK; London; The British and Foreign Bible Society; 1952.

The Oldest Protestant Church

Last week I was privileged to help Labrador Moravians celebrate their 550th anniversary as the oldest Protestant church by presenting two lectures at the Labrador Interpretation Centre in North West River. The anniversary event featured the Hopedale School's brass band under the inspiring direction of Ms. Nicole Burt, award-winning music teacher at Amos Comenius School. Mr. Amos Lyall of North West River and the provincial chair of the Moravian Church in Labrador, Ms. Joan Andersen of Makkovik, presided. My anniversary lectures included these reflections.

In 1457, sixty years before Martin Luther began his Reformation in Germany, followers of the reformer Jan Hus settled in a small community in northern Bohemia. Hus's attempt to reform and revive a church in crisis had led to his arrest, trial, and subsequent burning at the stake in Constance four decades earlier, resulting in upheaval and bloodshed among the Czech people.

Eventually a national church movement emerged, in search of spiritual, theological, and institutional renewal. Hus's revival and martyrdom spawned a spectrum of different factions, especially radical Taborites (named after their main city) in southern Bohemia and more moderate reformers under Archbishop Rokycana of Prague.

Yet even in Prague's famous Tyne Church, where Rokycana continued Hus's legacy as a powerful reform preacher, people led by the archbishop's nephew, Brother Gregory, a tailor, came to believe that hope did not lie with institutions and individuals but in communities guided by Christ through his Holy Spirit. The movement around Brother Gregory grew and received new spiritual impulses from Peter Chelcicky, a lay theologian and original thinker who powerfully contrasted the church of his day with the apostolic ideal. In his most famous book, The Net of Faith, Chelcicky compared the Christian message based on Scripture with a large fishing net that pulled humans from the ocean of the world.

As humankind struggled for salvation, two great whales had torn the net of faith-a worldly pope and a pagan emperor. Chelcicky counselled his fellow Christians to abstain totally from earthly power and to separate themselves wherever possible from the world.

Brother Gregory's group, influenced by people like Rokycana and Chelcicky, moved into the mountain village of Kunvald, in the parish of a congenial and blameless priest, Father Michael. This separation from the world, expressed in the move to Kunvald in 1457, marks the beginning of the Old Moravian Church. Over the next ten years, the movement defined itself gradually as a religious fellowship separate from the Roman Catholic Church and distinct from other Hussite groups.

This process of normative self-definition transformed the group into a Christ-centered body of believers with its own priesthood and bishop, elected by the drawing of lots. Their most distinctive spiritual experience was the effort to arrive at unanimous decisions in community. "Thus God renews his church by renewing his Holy Spirit," they declared in an early synodal statement, "so that they might serve him and each other through the love of the Spirit, so that in the last days like in the beginning of the apostolic faith many are of one heart and of one soul." Their search for unity in unanimity found expression in the official Latin name for the Moravian Church, Unitas Fratrum (Unity of the Brethren), and the Czech original name, Jednota bratrska (Brotherly Community).

Setting high ethical standards for themselves, Moravians have always sought to avoid conflict and competition with other Christians by planting their missions in places where no other missionaries had gone-as, for example, on the north coast of Labrador. Although they were often persecuted, Moravians nevertheless made significant cultural contributions, such as translating the Bible into the common language of people who received them. They also promoted universal education for male and female children, which became a reality in Labrador as early as 1780. One of the founders of modern education was the seventeenth-century Moravian bishop Amos Comenius, after whom the school in Hopedale is named.

In the fifteenth century, people in German-speaking areas of Moravia responded to the evangelization of the Czech Brethren but experienced much repression after the Thirty Years War. Many German-speaking Moravians fled to Saxony, where Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf permitted them to practice their religion freely and settle on his estates in Herrnhut.
Zinzendorf renewed the old Moravian Church in 1727 and established a worldwide missionary effort.

There is an especially relevant link between the Old Moravian Church in today's Czech Republic and Labrador Moravians. Among the earliest missionaries to the Inuit who established Nain in 1771 was a couple from Moravia, Johann and Elisabeth (Ertel) Schneider. Johann's and Elisabeth's families were leaders in preserving the old Moravian Church in Moravia during the persecution. On 19 February 1776 in Nain, Johann Schneider baptized Kingminguse, who became the first Inuk to be converted in Labrador.

That baptism related Labrador to Moravia in a direct way, spiritually and personally. The Schneiders later pioneered in Okak and Hopedale and lie buried in the oldest graveyard in Hopedale, where their withered stone markers can still be seen today.

Dr Hans Rollmann

(Dr Rollmann is Professor of Religious Studies in Memorial University and can be reached by email: hrollman@mun.ca)

550th Celebrations

The weekend of July 7 and 8 was an enjoyable one for Moravians in the Lake Melville area. Guest lecturer Hans Rollmann, professor of Religious Studies at Memorial University, as well as the ten members of the Hopedale school band, arrived on Friday afternoon, in time to take in the buffet supper provided by the Moravian Youth Camp. Campers and their leaders held a gathering in the Happy Valley Moravian Church to give an overview of their week at camp. A good crowd showed up to enjoy the meal and the band music and the PowerPoint presentation. You could not help but notice the joy and enthusiasm amongst the campers and staff. There was a fine balance of activity at the Gosling Lake Camp: athletic, creative, and reflective.

On Saturday evening, Dr Hans Rollmann spoke to a nearly full house at the Labrador Interpretation Center. He gave a very interesting and informative talk about the early beginnings of the Unitas Fratrum in Czechoslovakia, as well as the history of the Moravian Church in Labrador. Sandra Watts, director of the Labrador Interpretation Center, had arranged to have the photo exhibit “Labrador Through Moravian Eyes” on display there. She had also secured copies of Dr. Rollmann’s book “Labrador Through Moravian Eyes” and these were available for sale.

Refreshments were provided during an intermission, after which the Amos Comenius Memorial School Band under the direction of Nicole Burt, delighted us with their music (brass and woodwind). They have a repertoire of hymns learned during the year, since they play once a month in the Hopedale church for Sunday services.

On Sunday morning, the band played for the church service at the Happy Valley Moravian Church. Zipora Hunter remarked that she was very proud that her grandson, a member of the band, was there to take part in the 550th celebration. She, along with her late husband, Rev. Renatus Hunter, had been part of other milestones in the Church chronology, and could hardly have imagined while taking part in earlier celebrations, that their grandson would be a part of the 550th celebration! By the way, the preacher at this service was Rev. Tim Byerly from North Carolina, who had just finished serving as pastor at the Moravian Youth Camp, Gosling Lake. In response to a comment that these members of the Hopedale band are the church of the future, he said that really they are the church NOW.

On Sunday evening, Dr. Hans Rollmann and the Hopedale school band again went to the Labrador Interpretation Center, to an appreciative crowd, though smaller than the first evening, about 75% full. Stella Saunders, representing the St. John’s fellowship, was there to enjoy the second evening of history and music, Moravian style. The Master of Ceremonies, Amos Lyall, was moved by the fellowship and sharing. Everyone was impressed at the wealth of knowledge that Dr. Rollmann has of Moravian history. Zipora Hunter said, “He knows more about us than we know ourselves!”

Dr. Rollmann brought back to Labrador, valuable books that he had borrowed from Nain and Hopedale, having made digital copies of them at Memorial University. He was able to point out to us certain facts which are not common knowledge to most Labradorians. For example, Nain has a copy of the first extended Biblical text, published in Barby, 1800, containing extracts from the Gospel, for Passion Week readings, that had been translated into Inuktitut. The FIRST such book in Labrador Inuktitut! It was possibly an important factor in the receptiveness of the Inuit to the gospel. Another book was probably the first Labrador liturgy, published in 1830 at Bautzen, near Herrnhut, in Inuktitut. There are also newsletters printed in Nain dating back to 1902! The Moravians greatly promoted and aided the development of a high standard of literacy in Labrador.

Dr. Rollmann organized an international symposium on Moravian history in 2002 that was held in Makkovik and Hopedale. Articles presented by the historians during that symposium will get printed into a booklet this year, thanks to Dr. Rollmann’s initiative. More information about Moravians in Labrador can be found at Dr. Rollmann’s website: www.mun.ca/rels/morav/index.html

All in all, the weekend of July 6-9 was indeed a memorable one.

Sr Schloss writes with an update on her work at the St John's fellowship...

In 1988 I took early retirement from my position at Memorial University in order to go back into full time church work. The Board suggested visiting Moravians that are in - or are sent to - hospitals or the prison. Since in this Province, chaplaincy is done on a denominational basis (e.g. Anglicans care for Anglicans, R.C. patients by R.C., etc.) I was warmly welcomed by the various pastoral care committees in all the institutions. It turned out that a number of Moravians also live in the area – either they were married here, had jobs, or special needs (mental health, addictions, or previous convictions.)

On the first Christmas I was asked to conduct a candle service. From this, regular monthly services in a hospital chapel developed. They are publicly announced and open to all. Attendance varies from 2 or 3 to 20. At the candle service, there are usually 30.

From the outset and for several years I took classes at the local Anglican seminary (Queen’s College). The Bible Society invited me to over three terms on the Board. When the local Council of Churches was formed, I became a member of the executive and still am. At every ecumenical or interfaith function, I am invited to represent our church. When the 250th anniversary of the Moravian presence in Labrador was celebrated, the sisters of the Roman Catholic hospital organized a service of Thanksgiving in which nearly all the other denominations participated.

My ordination (in Nain, 1995) opened the doors even wider. Unfortunately, for health reasons, I reluctantly gave up the regular visits to the Penitentiary and the psychiatric hospital. Visits to the acute hospitals (children’s and general) continue as needed. So is the representation on the pastoral care committees and the Council of Churches. Visits elsewhere are also made to outpatients and in crisis (e.g. news comes that a family member has died, often through suicide).

I am deeply grateful to the church for having me called to this service through which I can still serve the Labrador people.

The opportunity and needs are great.
Pray the Lord of the Harvest.

Respectfully submitted,
Sr Brigitte Schloss
St. John’s Fellowship