Event/Site: The Easter Sunrise Service of the Moravian Church begins in front of Home Moravian Church on Salem Square in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and concludes in God's Acre, the Salem Moravian Graveyard.

Date: Easter Sunday beginning at 6:30 a.m.

Type: A Moravian Liturgical Worship Service. Worshipers gather in front of Home Moravian Church on Salem Square at Church and Academy Streets and participate in the first part of the Easter Morning Liturgy. The congregation then processes to God's Acre accompanied by the Salem Congregation Band divided into six smaller bands and playing antiphonally. Once gathered in God's Acre, all participate in the concluding part of the Liturgy accompanied by the massed Salem Congregation Band of over 400 members.

Location: Home Moravian Church (529 S. Church St.) and God's Acre, the Salem Moravian Graveyard, are located in the Old Salem Historic District in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Look for brown Old Salem exit signs off I-40 (exit 193B), US 52 (exit 108C), and Business 40 (exit 5D at Main Street heading east or exit 6A heading west). The main entrance to the Old Salem Historic District is located at the intersection of Old Salem Road and Academy Street. Click here for a map.

Cost: Free.

Parking: Free parking in identified lots around the Historic District and at the main entrance to Old Salem at Old Salem Road and Academy Street is available. Parking is adequate for bus tours.

Special Needs Access: Salem Square and God's Acre are accessible on paved streets and pathways. The Old Salem Visitor's Center and its public restrooms are not open for the service. A public restroom in the Vierling Barn on Church Street north of the church is open during the service.

Signage: Signs at location and en route.

Sponsor: Salem Congregation, a collegiate organization of twelve Moravian Churches in Winston-Salem.

Web Site: www.home-moravian.org

Contact:
The Rev. John D. Rights
Chair, Central Board of Elders
Salem Congregation
3401 Konnoak Drive
Winston-Salem, NC 27127
Phone: (336) 788-9321
E-Mail: johnrights@aol.com

Dr. Nola Reed Knouse
Director
Moravian Music Foundation
P. O. Box L, Salem Station
Winston-Slaem, NC 27108
Phone: (336) 725-0651
E-mail: nknouse@mcsp.org

Description of Event: About two o'clock on Easter Sunday morning, bands from the individual churches in Salem Congregation go throughout the city playing chorales to awaken people and remind all of the Resurrection and the worship service. The first chorale played by each band is "Sleepers, Wake!" The musicians make their way back to Home Moravian Church where they gather and prepare to play for the Easter Sunrise Service. At 6:30 a.m. the presiding minister begins the first part of the Easter Liturgy in front of Home Moravian Church. The Salem Congregation Band divided into six smaller bands and paired as teams play for the Liturgy's hymns. At the conclusion of the first part of the Liturgy, the divided bands play antiphonally as the worshipping congregation processes to God's Acre. After all have entered, the Band members come together again en masse and play Beethoven's "Creation Hymn" to begin the second part of the Easter Liturgy. The Liturgy concludes as the sun rises over the graves of departed brothers and sisters.

History of Event: This worship service with little variation from the early traditional and liturgical form has been held in Winston-Salem since 1772 under the auspices of Salem Congregation. The Moravian Sunrise Service is a continuing tradition and one rich in deep spiritual significance. It originated in Hernnhut, Germany, the first Moravian congregation town founded by religious refugees on the estate of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in 1722. Before dawn on Easter Sunday in 1732, a group of earnest young men met on "God's Acre" to sing appropriate hymns and to meditate upon Christ's death and resurrection. As they stood among the simply marked graves singing their songs of hope and faith and watching the rising sun drive darkness from the hills and valleys, these young men came to a deeper appreciation of the Resurrection than they had ever before experienced. With this simple beginning, the holding of a sunrise service on Easter morning has become an annual worship service wherever the Moravian Church has established itself.

Description/History of Site: The Home Moravian Church congregation, founded in 1771, continues to worship in its sanctuary which was consecrated and used for the first time in 1800. The church is located on Salem Square in the center of the Historic District. The shaded slopes of the Salem Moravian Graveyard are situated along the northern edge of the Historic District. Moravians call their graveyard "God's Acre", a significant and ancient name used by their ancestors. The site for the graveyard was selected in 1766 when the congregational town of Salem was founded.

Significance of Site/Event to the Community: Music holds a prominent place in the Moravian church community particularly in worship services. The Salem Congregation band began with six members over two hundred years ago and is made up of more than four hundred members today. Each Moravian church has a band; and, band members from the twelve Moravian churches of the Salem Congregation combine to form the Salem Congregation Band. The Easter Sunrise service brings together not only Moravians and Moravian band members but people from many different Christian backgrounds. Other denominations have followed the Moravians' lead and have implemented Easter Sunrise services of their own.