A Brief History of Prince of Peace Moravian Church

By Rev. David Guthrie (First Pastor). (Written before 1994. A number of things have changed since)

Our congregation began in the summer of 1979. One Moravian living in Miami felt moved by God to witness to her faith and discussed her thoughts with a few Moravian families she knew in the area. At a meeting in the home of Daphne and Santos Ordonez, a small group made a commitment to begin meeting as Moravian Christians on a regular basis. The “house church” meetings continued for over one year, during which all of the seasons, festivals, and memorial days of our Moravian Church were observed, including the harvest festival, a tradition from our churches in the Caribbean and Central America.

We were recognized as a Fellowship by the Southern Province Board of Homeland Missions and started to look for a place for worship. Through the generosity of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family we were able to begin evening worship in their sanctuary in September of 1981. The Rev. Melvin Klokow of the Coral Ridge Moravian Church in Ft. Lauderdale began to serve as part-time pastor. During his ministry, our Sunday school, Choir and Fund Raising Committee were organized.In July of 1986, David Guthrie arrived to serve full time as organizing pastor. In November 1986 we closed our charter roll with 115 communicant members and became a fully organized congregation of the Southern Province. In March of 1987, the Rt. Rev. George Higgins consecrated our first building, a modular multipurpose facility.

While most of our members are Moravians who have come from the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, over the years Moravians and members of other Christian churches from Jamaica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Antigua, St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Panama, Surinam, and Grenada have joined in our work and witness. We are an international congregation in an international city.In many ways we are a typical Moravian Church. The focal point of our life together is weekly worship. We strive to have services that are lively and warm, living up to the old adage that “fellowship is the third sacrament of the Moravian Church.”