BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A year after its official World Heritage Site designation, a nationwide search has connected Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem with a new manager to oversee the future of the beloved local landmarks.
Katherine Faull, an internationally acclaimed scholar on Moravian studies, took on the role in September, according to a news release from Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem.
Faull will use the position to “shape the strategic vision for Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem as part of a transnational World Heritage site; enhance academic and public programming; lead tourism and hospitality efforts at the Bethlehem sites; and strengthen international partnerships with other historic Moravian World Heritage sites,” the release said.
“We are confident in Katherine’s ability to use this World Heritage status to elevate the international profile of the Lehigh Valley, and especially Bethlehem, as a destination of global significance and tourism."Dr. Bryon Grigsby, Moravian University president and a member of the site’s World Heritage Council and Commission
The local distinguished Moravian sites include structures along 10 acres near West Church Street, including Central Moravian Church, the 1741 Gemeinhaus, the 1744 Single Sisters’ House and God’s Acre cemetery.
Also, the Colonial Industrial Quarter below Main Street.
Faull also will continue her role as founding vice president and executive director of The Institute for Moravian History and World Heritage at Moravian University, to which she was appointed in April.
'Destination of global significance and tourism'
Moravian University President Bryon Grigsby, a member of the site’s World Heritage Council and Commission, called Faull “a natural fit” for the job.
“We are confident in Katherine’s ability to use this World Heritage status to elevate the international profile of the Lehigh Valley, and especially Bethlehem, as a destination of global significance and tourism,” Grigsby said.
Faull has studied Moravian history, theology and culture for more than 30 years, and published several books in that time.
“Katherine’s visionary leadership will deepen our understanding of Moravian heritage and make this history accessible to visitors worldwide."Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, who also serves as chair of the Moravian Church Settlements — Bethlehem World Heritage Council and Commission
She has a doctorate in German Literature from Princeton University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in German/Russian from King’s College, University of London.
She previously was a professor of German and Humanities, and associate provost for Local and Global Engagement at Bucknell University.
Faull also has served on the Moravian Archives board of directors in Bethlehem since 2010.
“Katherine’s visionary leadership will deepen our understanding of Moravian heritage and make this history accessible to visitors worldwide,” Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds said.
Reynolds also serves as chairman of the Moravian Church Settlements-Bethlehem World Heritage Council and Commission.
A prestigious list
The transnational World Heritage Site of three Moravian Church settlements — nominated to include Historic Moravian Bethlehem; Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany; and Gracehill, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom — last summer joined an existing Moravian Church World Heritage Site in Christiansfeld, Denmark.
All four of the locations still have active Moravian Church congregations and similar town planning, with some variances based on locality.
The World Heritage distinction “represents the outstanding universal value of these historic settlements and the worldwide influence of the Moravian Church,” officials have said.
The sites now are on a list that includes only a couple dozen others in the United States (including Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona) and more than 1,200 around the world, such as The Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.
The Bethlehem site is among just two in America with ties to a university. The other is Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's plantation home) and the University of Virginia's Academical Village nearby in Charlottesville, Virginia.
