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Where it all began

The History of Zinzendorf’s Order of the Mustard Seed

Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born in Saxony (eastern Germany) in 1700, the son of an aristocratic family. In 1715, he was part of a spiritual revival at his school, the Halle academy. He and four friends who were the main ring-leaders of the revival formed a prayer and accountability group which would later go on to become the “Order of the Mustard Seed”.

Their society was conceived as a secret order of spiritual knighthood. To them, most of whom owed their positions in society to structures and traditions dating back to the middle ages, this was a normal and culturally acceptable thing to do. The difference was, their loyalty and service would be sworn to Christ alone.

The 20th century Moravian bishop Herbert Spaugh summarized the commitment which they made as follows:

1. To be true to Christ;

2. To be kind to all people;

3. To send the gospel to the world.

The Order developed gradually as the schoolfriends matured into adulthood. As university students, being “true to Christ” was expressed in terms of standing firm against the temptations of adolescence. In later life they would focus on integrity in positions of responsibility.

The emblem of the Order was a brooch bearing a picture of a mustard tree, and a motto in Latin which means “That which was formerly nothing”. Every member wore a ring carrying a Greek inscription meaning “None of us lives for himself”.

The image of the Mustard Seed comes straight from the bible. Jesus told his followers that the kingdom of God would be like a mustard seed, starting invisibly small but growing to become a great tree [Mt 13v31-32, Mk 4v30-32, Lk 13v18-19]. He also challenged them that if they had faith “even as big as a mustard seed”, they could tell a mountain to go jump in the sea and it would obey them! [Mt 17v20, Lk 17v6].

Zinzendorf continued to recruit members to the Order throughout most of his life. Later members included:

• Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles, the Catholic Archbishop of Paris;

• John Potter, the Anglican (Episcopalian) Archbishop of Canterbury;

• Christian VI, King of Denmark;

• General James Oglethorpe, Governor of Georgia;

• Tomochichi, Chief of the Creek nation of native American Indians;

• Erskine, a Scottish member of the British Parliament.

Zinzendorf is known to history as the founder and leader of the renewed Moravian church. The community established on his estates at Herrnhut became pioneers of prayer, mission, and church unity. All of these aspects can be seen in the Mustard Seed vow which Zinzendorf and his schoolfriends first conceived as teenagers in Halle.

Posted by mustardseedorder.com

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