Easter Sunrise Service

Easter 2011 0332024 EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE

WHEN AND WHERE

The 252nd Easter Sunrise Service will be held on Sunday, March 31, 2024 starting at 6:15am in the Salem Square.  It will be broadcast on WXII TV-Channel 12, aired on WSJS AM 600khz, and live streamed on moraviansunrise.org.

For a video about the service, see this.

GREAT SABBATH SERVICE

The Great Sabbath Service takes place the Saturday evening before Easter in Home Moravian Church. This is a musical service performed by members of many Moravian choirs with an orchestra. Please join us Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 PM for in person attendance or it can be viewed at homemoravian.org or Home Moravian Church’s Facebook page.

https://www.homemoravian.org/
https://www.facebook.com/homemoravianchurch/

PARKING

Parking is typically available on streets in the area but not around the Square or on Main Street, be aware of signage and do not block driveways. The lot by God’s Acre entered from Salem Avenue and Ram’s Drive is limited to band buses and handicapped permits. Below are some of the parking lots should be available for parking during the Easter Sunrise Service:

  • Old Salem parking lot, 720 Salt St.
  • Old Salem Visitors Center, 800 Old Salem Road, parking lot at Walnut Street and Old Salem Road
  • Grassy parking on Academy Street at Factory Row
  • 235 S. Church (north of Cemetery)

WHAT TO EXPECT

Once you park and walk into Old Salem, you will notice ushers at various locations.  These people are available to direct you to your destination, provide service bulletin, as well as answer general questions that you might have.  It will be somewhat dark when you arrive and there is a fair amount of walking involved, so plan to dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes.  The dress for this service is casual and strollers and wheelchairs are welcome.  If you are with someone in a wheelchair, police can allow you to drive into Old Salem near the square to drop them off and then leave the barricades area to park your vehicle.  The Salem Fine Arts Center lot will also be available to vehicles with a handicap placard.  Restroom facilities are available at various locations (click on link below) and any usher will be glad to help direct you.  Our graveyard regulations do not allow pets in the graveyard or on Cedar Avenue, so please refrain from bringing pets to the service.

HOSPITALITY STATION

This year Lot 63 (612 S Main St) will be hosting the free coffee and sugarcake. They will only be open until 15 minutes before the service. They do have restrooms available.

RESTROOMS

The primary restrooms are available behind the Boys School at the corner of S. Main and Academy Street, directly adjacent to the Square. The entry is at a walkway in the middle of the block between the two buildings facing the Square. They are lit, heated, have running water, and are ADA accessible. Thanks to Old Salem Museum and Gardens for allowing access.

FIRST AID

As a safety precaution, paramedics and an ambulance is on stand-by in case of an illness or accident. In case of any issue contact the nearest usher or police officer who will alert the EMS on site.

BROADCASTS OF THE SERVICE

Since 1930 the Easter Sunrise Service of The Moravian Church has been broadcast yearly on radio by WSJS, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and is now available over the internet at WSJS.com.

The service is also carried live on WXII Channel 12 locally. The Moravian Church expresses appreciation to WSJS and WXII for making possible an extensive witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Easter Sunrise Service is also be streamed from the internet live. You can find a link to this on our Easter Sunrise Service website at MoravianSunrise.org or you can go directly to the Home Moravian Church website at HomeMoravian.org.  Comments from persons attending the service (in person or virtually) are appreciated and should be sent to the Salem Congregation.

GRAVEYARD DONATIONS

Donations to support the maintenance and upkeep of the Salem Moravian Graveyard are greatly appreciated.  We all want God’s Acre to continue to be the beautiful place it has always been and your continued generosity and support will make it possible.  Please make checks payable to Salem Congregation designated for Salem Moravian Graveyard and mail to Salem Congregation.  Online donations can be made through the Moravian Ministries Foundation here.

EASTER GRAVESTONE CLEANING AND FLOWER PLACEMENT

Did you know that Salem Congregation provides a service where you can have your loved one’s gravestone cleaned and a flower placed at their grave each year at Easter? For a one-time fee of $1,000, we will provide this service each Easter in perpetuity. If you live out of town or are unable to perform this service for any reason, you can have peace of mind knowing that this caring act is being performed. For more information, call the Salem Congregation office at 336-722-6504 or email us at office@salemcongregation.org and we will mail you an application.

HISTORY

The Sunrise Service of the Moravians in Winston-Salem is an old service, rich in deep spiritual significance. It originated in Herrnhut, Saxony, a village which had been established in 1722 on the estate of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf by a band of religious refugees, descendants of the Ancient Unitas Fratrum. On Easter Sunday in 1732, before dawn, a group of earnest young men met by special appointment on “God’s Acre” to sing appropriate hymns and to meditate upon the great fact of Christ’s death and resurrection. To these young men, as they stood among the simply marked graves, singing their songs of hope and faith, watching the rising sun drive darkness from the hills and valleys, there came a deeper appreciation of the resurrection truth than they had ever before experienced. With this simple beginning, the holding of a sunrise service on Easter morning became an annual feature in the worship services of the Moravian Church wherever it has established itself.

In Winston-Salem, this service, with little variation from the traditional and liturgical form, has been held since 1772 under the auspices of the Salem Congregation Churches. It is in no sense one of spectacular appeal or pageantry, but is held as a service of true worship, centering attention on the great underlying fact of the Christian Faith, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, through which God placed a seal of approval on Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and established the truth of the claims of our religion. The service offers each one who attends an opportunity to renew a faith in the Risen Christ, in “the communion of saints,” in “the forgiveness of sins,” and in “the life everlasting.”

THE GRAVEYARD – GOD’S ACRE

The site for the graveyard was selected April 21, 1766; the avenue bordering the graveyard was laid out in the year 1770; and the first body, that of John Birkhead, one of the eight men who first came to the settlement, was interred June 7, 1771.

The Moravians still call their graveyard by that significant and ancient name used by their ancestors “God’s Acre.” It is a “field” in which the bodies of loved ones are sown in faith as “physical bodies,” in due time to be raised as “spiritual bodies.”

A feature of God’s Acre is the recumbent stones, symbolizing the Moravian belief in the democracy of death and making it impossible to distinguish between the graves of the rich and poor. The burial of members according to “choirs” or station in life (married men, married women, single men, single women, etc.) rather than by families, is another distinguishing feature, carrying out the departmental system which was introduced into the Moravian Church over two hundred years ago by Count Zinzendorf.

THE CHURCH BAND

Music was from the beginning assigned a prominent place in the Moravian Church, both for its cultural value and as an aid in the expression and development of the religious life. Congregational singing is made a feature of its services, and the Band is used to helpful advantage in the outdoor services, on festival occasions, and in the Moravian funeral service. Particular emphasis has been placed on the development of the Band, which had a small beginning with six members over two hundred years ago. Now there are six separate bands that play as part of the service. Before the service, some on Saturday and others in the early morning, Moravian musicians who play in the Band assemble in groups to go throughout the city playing chorales, partly to remind all listeners of the Resurrection, and partly to awaken people for the Sunrise Service. The first choral played by each group is “Sleepers, Wake!”

SEEKING OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE

While grateful for an honorable past, the Moravian Church is conscious of its present obligation and opportunity, and desires earnestly to fulfill its further mission. Accordingly, the church calls upon every person to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,” to unite with a church of choice, and to enter into definite Christian witness and service for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom. In the Risen Christ is the hope of the world!