This document is a revision of a similar statement prepared and approved by the Unity Synod of 1957, which marked the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Unitas Fratrum, and reviewed by subsequent Unity Synods.

The material contained in the 1957 statement and in this 1995 version of "The Ground of the Unity" and "Essential Features of the Unity" is based on earlier statements about the beliefs and practices of the Moravian Church.