The Most Memorable Circumstances: Instructions for the Collection of Personal Data from Church Members, circa 1752

Moravian archival facilities around the world house over 40,000 memoirs, known in the German language as Lebensläufe, from members of the Moravian Church. This article is a translation of a memorandum, found at the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, about the collection of biographical information from members of the Moravian Church. This source, an undated request from Matthaeus Hehl, provides instructions for how to collect such information. Because Hehl calls upon Moravians to provide detailed information about their lives, he may have in effect contributed to the development of autobiographical discourse within the church. This manuscript is a significant discovery, as it builds upon our current understanding of autobiographical writing within the Moravian Church.