Schulz, Theodore, 1770-

The hymnal was prepared by Theodore Schulz, a missionary of the Moravian Brotherhood to Surinam. His mission, named "Hope" in its third incarnation on the Wironje River, lasted until 1808, when it burned down.

Born in East Prussia in 1770, Schulz had joined the Moravian Brotherhood in 1796 and was ordained in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1800. He then joined the Hope Mission to the Arawak on the Wironje River. The Arawak hymnal he compiled is written in roman characters, with headings in German. It appears to predate any known printed works in Arawak. Schulz, who left Hope in 1806, brought his manuscript back with him to America, where he continued his missionary work in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas until the end of his life. The Hope Mission had long disappeared, burned to the ground in 1808.