In many respects Herrnhut must be considered the most thoroughgoing and fruitful application of the principle of community in church history. Since Zinzendorf started not with an integrated Christian community but with a collection of fragments from widely different ecclesiastical backgrounds who were at one another’s throats to begin with, his success in turning Herrnhut into a unified community through the linked use of prayer and small groups serves to demonstrate that Luther’s original plan was viable.
