Imperial Count Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (September 19, 1727 – May 28, 1752) was the charismatic leader of the Single Brethren's Choir of the Moravian Church and of Herrnhaag (The Lord’s Grove), a Christian religious community built near Büdingen by his father, Count Nicholas Ludwig, head of the Brüdergemeine or Moravian Unity.

The compounding of sexuality and spirituality at Herrnhaag led to virulent attacks from outside and within the church, threatening to undo the goodwill with other denominations that the elder Zinzendorf had sought for decades.

Zinzendorf was born just a month after the spiritual awakening experience on August 13, 1727, that signaled the renewal of the Ancient Unity of Brethren, in which Moravian exiles on the lands of his father committed themselves to a life in Christ.

"[3] The strong mother/weak or distant father parenting style typically associated with early psychoanalytic attempts to explain homosexuality was also used to further discredit Zinzendorf.

Herrnhaag was a community designed by the elder Zinzendorf, whose inhabitants were to live under the direct rule of Christ with Christian Renatus as his representative.

During the service, those in attendance believed that the Sidewound of Christ was literally standing before them in the bodily forms of Christel and Rubusch, his co-leader of the brothers.

[5] The combination of sexuality and spirituality shown at Herrnhaag was not unknown in Christian history, but it caused increasing scandal both within and without the church, particularly embarrassing for Nicholas, "who was trying to be recognized as a rightful theologian after joining the confession of Augsburg" in 1748.

[6] Even Christel’s mother was concerned, realizing the events taking place at Herrnhaag and its nearby sister community of Marienborn were at the edge where metaphor and reality meet.

"[7] In addition to increasingly embarrassing scandal and rumor, the cost of sustaining Herrnhaag and its numerous festivals put a severe financial strain on the church at a time when its missionary efforts were expanding around the world.

"[8] Zinzendorf died in a house in Dean's Yard of Westminster Abbey, London, on May 28, 1752, from a hemorrhage due to tuberculosis, with John Nitschmann, his former tutor, beside him.

He was buried on the grounds of Lindsey House, "Sharon," the Moravian Graveyard located in Chelsea outside London, where his father lived at that time while directing the worldwide missionary effort of the church.

Nicholas Zinzendorf called the ensuing scandal an “unbridled freedom of the flesh.” [10] His representative told the residents at Herrnhaag and its nearby sister community of Marienborn that it was impossible to be "truly unified with our Husband" while living on earth.

There was a general shunning of the period that lasted well into the twentieth century, and almost no pertinent documents remains in either the major Moravian archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania or Herrnhut, Germany.