Fairfield Moravian Church

's house, 6 Fairfield Square]] In 1742 the Moravians established a headquarters for their evangelistic work in the North of England at Lightcliffe near Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the request of James Taylor and John Wood of Cheshire, evangelists moved to work in the Manchester area. In 1751 a congregation was established in Dukinfield, Cheshire, with a small settlement following in 1755. This was to be the centre of a preaching mission on the western side of the Pennines. There was limited scope for expansion at Dukinfield and in 1783 the Moravians purchased sixty acres of land in Droylsden from Mrs Greaves at Broad Oaks Farm and her neighbours, Mr Saxon and Mr Kirkenhead…

The Fairfield congregation used the Lot when making decisions such as admission to membership and choice of a marriage partner. After prayer the question was posed, the Lot was consulted by drawing at random one of three slips of paper. One slip marked 'Yes', one 'No' and one was blank. The practice was based on Biblical precedent and reflected the Moravian belief in Christ as the active and directing Head of the Church. By 1815 the use of the Lot to determine membership began to wane. This may be partly due to a result on 8 May 1815 when a married woman, Hannah Kenyon, earnestly sought on her death bed to become a member of Fairfield. The elders were satisfied she was sincere and the…