James Shockley
“The Lord has Risen.”
“The Lord Has Risen Indeed.”
“Hail, Oh Hail Victorious Savior, You Have Burst the Bonds of Death.”
A hymn played by a brass band welcomes the arisen Savior. A Moravian Easter service has begun.
The Moravians form the oldest Protestant Christian Church, predating the Protestant Revolution by almost a century.
Originally they were the followers of Jan Hus, a church reformer who, like Martin Luther, was incensed by the Catholic Church practice of selling indulgences to give the wealthy a quick exit from Purgatory.
Luther was in the process of being sentenced to death when he was saved by Frederick III of Saxony. Hus was not as fortunate. He was tried for heresy and burned at the stake.
As taught by Hus, the Moravians believe in purity of faith. They accept the basic tenants of the Bible, but think it is wrong to discuss them. They are egalitarian – wealth and prestige should not matter among their members.
At one time they encouraged the wealthier members to give away their belongings and live in self-induced poverty.
The earliest Moravians, located in what is now the Czech Republic, were severely persecuted by the established church and many were martyred.
Eventually many of the survivors moved to Germany. When the Lutheran Church became the dominant faith in Germany, the Moravians were accepted as a group but were not particularly welcome.
The early followers of Hus organized themselves into a church with parishes, priests, and churches. They translated the Bible into German and published it. By the early 1500’s they had over 200,000 members.
The Thirty Years War, which started as a religious war between Catholics and Protestants, was disastrous for them. They were almost completely destroyed, but a few believers remained.
In 1722 the Moravian Church was reestablished in Saxony. Ten years later, on the Easter morning of 1732, the men of the church had the first Easter Sunrise Service on record.
They met in the church’s cemetery and, accompanied by a brass band, had a service to welcome the arisen Lord. The next year the women participated as well. The Easter sunrise celebration became a notable feature of the Moravian Church and gradually spread to other denominations.
In the Eighteenth Century, many Moravians immigrated to the American British Colonies, settling on the frontier where they could minister to the Indian populations.
They first moved to Pennsylvania and founded the community of Bethlehem. A few years later they purchased a large tract of land in the piedmont of North Carolina and founded the community of Salem, the Old Salem portion of Winston-Salem. The Home Church in Salem was established in 1771.
Moravians have always had a strong attraction to music – choral music and band music as well as organ music.
Most churches have several choirs as well as a brass band to supplement the organ. There are large libraries of music written in old-style notation by Moravian music masters.
Moravians believe that all are equal under God and that this equality should be reflected in the rites of death and in the internment of the dead.
They are appalled by the use of elaborate tombstones, believing that rich and poor should not be distinguished in life nor in death.
In their cemeteries (known as “God’s Acres”) the dead are buried under uniform flat slabs of stone, frequently laid out in a grid pattern. (God’s Acre at the Home Church in Winston-Salem is a beautiful example: Enter ourstate.com/communion-saints on your web browser.)
Each year Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg hosts an Easter Sunrise Service, rotating between denominations. This year, at 7 a.m., a traditional Moravian Easter Sunrise Service will welcome the arisen Lord.
The service will be led by the Rev. Charles Fishel of the Mount Bethel Moravian Church in Cana, Virginia. It will be conducted in the Preston Family Cemetery which is the closest we could get to a “God’s Acre” even though the tombstones are upright.
Unfortunately, the cemetery is a distance away from Smithfield Plantation and will require several minutes of walking over some rough land, so come at least fifteen minutes early.
The walk will not be suitable for persons who need crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs. Everyone else is welcome to worship in our local God’s Acre. Come to the parking lot at Smithfield Plantation and walk from there to the cemetery.
James Shockley writes a monthly history column. He lives in Blacksburg.
