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The Moravian burial ground was not called a
cemetery, but, informally "a
graveyard" and, formally, "God's
Acre." In "God's Acre"
families are not buried together in plots.
Rather, each body is laid under a flat white
stone, in the "next open grave". On
this stone is inscribed the name of the
deceased, along with the date of birth, the
date of death, and an appropriate verse of
scripture, or other comment selected by the
family. The matching stones, and method of
burial "in the next open
grave", emphasizes the equality
of all the dead in Christ.It was (and is)
possible for Moravian's to use the next open
grave because a dividing walk runs through
the graveyard. The men and boys are buried on
one side of the walk, and the women and girls
on the other. There are sections for married
men, for unmarried men and boys, for married
women, and for single women and girls. Thus,
while no family is together in death, the
body of one man's wife never ends up next to
the husband of another woman! This same plan
of burial was followed in all of our
congregation towns throughout the world,
including the old town of Salem, N. C. and in
the modern city of Winston-Salem. Of course,
in locations where it is not possible for a
church to a graveyard, the churches encourage
their members to care for their dead in more
conventional ways. Frequently members of our
church buy family plots in commercial
cemeteries, and many Moravians of today will
opt for cremation.
[courtesy
of www.everydaycounselor.com]
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