United in the Love of Christ

The Rev. Dr. Nola Reed Knouse is Director of the Moravian Music Foundation, a position she has held since 1994. She holds the B.A. in music and mathematics from Wake Forest University, the M.A. and Ph.D. in music theory from the Eastman School of Music, with minor fields in musicology and mathematics, and the Certificate in Theological Studies from Moravian Theological Seminary. She is active as a flutist, composer, and arranger, and is one of the band leaders at Home Moravian Church and Associate Band Leader of the Salem Congregation Bands. She has led workshops on writing hymns and liturgies and worship planning, in addition to many programs for musicians. She served as music editor for the 1995 Moravian Book of Worship, and Moravian Chorales and Music, Volume 2, for band. She is author and editor of The Music of the Moravian Church in America, published by Eastman Studies in Musicology of the University of Rochester Press, and editor of David Moritz Michael, Complete Wind Chamber Music (A-R Editions, Music of the United States of America, Volume 16, 2006). She has taught at Oregon State University, the Eastman School of Music, Wake Forest University, the Community Music School of the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Salem College. She is a native of Winston-Salem, NC, a member of Home Moravian Church, and is married to Paul F. Knouse, Jr.

United in the Love of Christ was composed in 2005 for the 60th wedding anniversary of Samuel B. Marx (1918-2011) and Grace Hoppe Marx (1920-2016). Brother and Sister Marx were missionaries in Nicaragua and Honduras for 25 years, and after their retirement they were very active members of Christ Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The publication of this anthem is sponsored by Christ Moravian Church in their memory.