There are different reasons for communities. Steel and coal patch towns, for example, developed for economic reasons. The Ephrata Cloister, Old Economy Village and the Moravian Communities were Pennsylvania communities founded on religious ideals. Today, some communities, such as retirement, gated or golfing communities develop because of common interests. Most communities are built to reflect the shared values, interests or beliefs of the members.
William Penn's idea of religious freedom allowed settlers to live out their ideals in Pennsylvania. They could not have done this anywhere else during that time period. Catholics, Jews, Quakers and Mennonites were just some of the religious faiths represented by the immigrants. Communities were established in the Pennsylvania Colony for many reasons and in many ways. Some, like Philadelphia, were well planned. Others grew around a mill or a water source. Religious communities, though, were intentionally established. By design, they had to meet specific requirements set by their religious leaders.
The Moravian Community in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is an excellent example of a well-planned religious community designed to serve the needs of a people who were basically of one accord. All town plans had to be approved by the center of Moravian life in Herrnhut, Germany. Here are some principles that made the Moravian Community unique.
The Moravians settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, along the Lehigh River and the Monocacy Creek to build a new society devoted to religious missions. The group was organized so that all members would share their labor and receive food, shelter and clothes. This communal system, known as the General Economy, freed members to worship and work as "Pilgrims" providing spiritual nurture for both those within the community and those who lived outside. Native Americans and African Americans were examples of those who were ministered to by the Moravians.
The structure of the Moravian Community was unique. Members lived in large dwellings and were divided by age, gender and marital status. The purpose of this arrangement was to provide spiritual encouragement from those who were most like themselves in age, gender, etc. These unusual family groupings were called "Choirs." This system provided for care for all children and freed the women to serve in leadership within the community. Even in death members were buried in God's Acre Cemetery in their choir system groups.
Children were a valued part of the Moravian Community. Babies remained with their mothers until they were weaned. At nursery age, both boys and girls moved into the unmarried sisters" house to be cared for. Later, the older boys moved to the unmarried brothers" house. The older girls remained with the sisters. Jon Amos Comenius, a Moravian known as the father of modern education, advocated relating education to everyday life by providing contact with objects in the environment. Girls were educated as well as boys in the Gemeinhaus or Community House.
Community members supported themselves by establishing a sophisticated industrial area by the Monocacy Creek. Colonial leaders such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were impressed by the high level of development and the self-sufficiency of the Moravian system which was known as the General Economy.