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SEAL AND MOTTOThe seal of the Moravian Church dates back to the Unitas Fratrum of the 1500s.
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MISSIONSThe Moravian church has a long history of mission work both foreign, dating back to 1732, and home missions. The church supports missions from Tanzania to Tibet, from Greenland to Guyana. The members of Rural Hall Moravian Church actively support home and foreign missions. The Women’s Fellowship raises money through yearly projects, such as an annual community breakfast in October, wrapping paper sales, bake sales, and pledges to provide funds for foreign mission needs and support of individuals, families, and organizations in the community. The three circles of the Women’s Fellowship each spend a part of their budget supporting mission work. The missions supported through our church budget are:
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PASSION WEEKDuring the week prior to Easter, Passion Week, the Moravian Church holds various services which follow Christ’s movements during His last week on earth. At Rural Hall, these include a lovefeast, reading services, Maundy Thursday Communion, a Crucifixion Hour service, and a Tennebrae service. Reading services begin on the evening of Palm Sunday, at which time a lovefeast is held, followed by readings, prayers, and hymns that are read and sung from the Passion Week Manual. This manual is a harmonizing of the accounts of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, as found in the four Gospels. Moravians have used it in various translations for more than two hundred years. On Good Friday, at 2:15PM, the Crucifixion service begins. This very moving service follows the Savior’s path to the cross at Calvary. At 3:00PM, while worshippers meditate and pray, the church bell is rung thirty-three times, each peal indicating a year in the life of Jesus. A Tennebrae service is held in the evening. At daybreak, on Easter Sunday morning, the traditional Moravian Easter Sunrise Service is observed.
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EASTER SUNRISE SERVICEThe Moravians of Herrhut first held an Easter Sunrise Service in 1732. The service was so inspirational that it became a custom that was brought to America. Traditionally, the service begins about two o’clock AM when the church band assembles, then travels throughout the community playing Easter chorales. This is to awaken those who will attend the Sunrise service and to remind all that “The Lord is risen.” The actual service begins at daybreak when the congregation gathers in front of the church and the minister proclaims, “The Lord is risen!” The congregation responds, “The Lord is risen indeed!” For a number of years, Rural Hall Moravian has held its Easter Sunrise Service jointly with the Bethania Moravian Congregation at Bethania’s church and cemetery.
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THANKSGIVINGFor many years, Rural Hall Moravian Church has joined other area churches in a Thanksgiving Eve service. The locale of the service is rotated among the participating churches. A love offering is distributed to local charitable agencies. The service is filled with prayerful thanksgiving to God for His bounty and benevolence toward community and nation.
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Four Sundays before Christmas Day, the season of Advent begins. The making and using of an Advent wreath is a Christian custom that probably dates back to the Middle Ages. In our church, a church family volunteers to make the Advent Wreath: a simple circle of greens with four beeswax candles. On the first Sunday in Advent, a child of the congregation lights the first candle, on the second Sunday, another child lights two candles, and so on until four candles are lit on the fourth Sunday.
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The Moravian Star is a traditional Christmas symbol that is displayed from the first Sunday in Advent until the sixth of January. It is not known who invented the Moravian Star, but it apparently originated in Niesky, Germany, about 1850. The star’s number of points and size may vary. Traditionally, they were made of paper, but in recent years, many have been made of plastic. Usually they are white, yellow or red or a combination of two colors. The star that is presently used in our sanctuary is white. According to the late Dr. Adelaide Fries, archivist of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church, the star has a three-fold message. It testifies to the greatness of the Creator who made the stars on the fourth day; it is a reminder of the star that guided the Wise Men to the babe of Bethlehem; and it points to the Divine Star, foretold by the prophet who said, “A Star shall come out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17), and fulfilled in Him who said of Himself, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16).
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The custom of Moravian lovefeasts is based upon the early Christian’s gathering after Pentecost and breaking bread together. The first recorded Moravian lovefeast was in 1727. Lovefeast is a service of hymns and prayer accompanied by a simple meal usually consisting of a sweetened bun and a mug of coffee. Dieners–men and women of the church–serve these to the worshipping congregation. At the Christmas lovefeast, the first of which was held for children on December 24, 1747, a lighted, beeswax candle with a red, crepe-paper ruff is given to each worshipper. The beeswax of the candle represents the purity of Christ; the flame, the light of love that Christ brought into a darkened world; and the red ruff the blood of Christ. The candles used at Rural Hall’s Christmas lovefeast are made by members of the church who meet several times a year to melt the beeswax, trim the wicks, and pour the melted wax into the molds. In late November, the Women’s Fellowship gathers in the fellowship hall to trim the hundreds of candles with the red paper ruff. |
