Watertown Moravian Church
The early Easter service is held at sunrise in a graveyard originated among the Moravians of
Herrnhut in 1732. A group of young men meeting for prayer on the preceding evening
decided as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, they, like the disciples, would go
to the place of burial. Unlike the disciples, they knew the Lord had risen and planned to sing
their hymns of praise to him.
The sunrise service soon became a custom and was brought to America by the early
Moravian settlers.
God's Acre means where the bodies of Christians are laid awaiting the resurrection. In the old
diaries the Moravians never said a member had died. In the old church registers, the column
for the date of death was headed "Fell Asleep." The general heading for the death records
was "Went home and was laid in the grave."
Excerpted from the Watertown Daily Times
Herrnhut in 1732. A group of young men meeting for prayer on the preceding evening
decided as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, they, like the disciples, would go
to the place of burial. Unlike the disciples, they knew the Lord had risen and planned to sing
their hymns of praise to him.
The sunrise service soon became a custom and was brought to America by the early
Moravian settlers.
God's Acre means where the bodies of Christians are laid awaiting the resurrection. In the old
diaries the Moravians never said a member had died. In the old church registers, the column
for the date of death was headed "Fell Asleep." The general heading for the death records
was "Went home and was laid in the grave."
Excerpted from the Watertown Daily Times
Easter
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