The Harper brothers, between 1857 and 1916, published the popular Harper's Weekly magazine. The magazine featured the most renowned authors, illustrators and cartoonists of the time. In the March 31, 1888, issue an article and illustration about the Moravian traditional Easter service appeared. The illustration, by W. A. Rogers, covered two pages and was so popular with the readers that it was common to find the illustration framed on the walls of their homes. The article accompanying the illustration was not credited but most likely written by Rogers, as well.

Although the Moravian Easter Service was described in publications previous to the Harper's Weekly, such as John Hill Martin's "Historic Sketch of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania" (1872), the Harper's account made the Easter service famous nationally. Every year, crowds of tourists gathered at the Central Moravian Church for the predawn Easter service. The Harper's Weekly described the service as follows:

"Very early in the morning, and long before dawn, it has been an old custom to go round the village and awaken the still sleeping inhabitants by an Easter morning choral performed on the trombones. The trombone band is an institution as old as the 'Sun Inn' itself. On Easter morning its members assemble in front of the Old Church, where, by the light of flaring torches, they discourse solemn music, summoning the people to the in-door service held before the break of day.

After half an hour in the church, the people, preceded by the band, walk in solemn procession to the burying-ground. When the weather is favorable, this spectacle is replete with pathetic and lovely suggestion... The old cemetery is now in the centre of the town, and within its precincts the dead buried in rows, rich and poor, old and young, lying side by side without regard to station or family ties. A tiny slab with name and date rests on each grave; there is no other monument to distinguish the resting-place of one brother above another.

The procession is timed to meet the rising sun. The pastor, the choir, and the band walk down the broad central path to the middle of the burying ground, while the people, separating to right and left. March around the outer paths, forming a hollow square-the living around the dead. When all are in their places and in the midst of a solemn silence, the choir suddenly bursts forth into an awakening song, and just then, as everything has been arranged to the second, the sun rises behind a gray hill to the east. A short prayer ends the service."

Harper's Weekly, in its April 14, 1906, issue, once again covered the Bethlehem Easter service. Author W. D. Howells and illustrator E.V. Nadherny took a train to Bethlehem, arriving on "Easter Eve" and secured accommodations at the Sun Inn. Howells found the town to be very modern. He heard Pennsylvanian German spoken everywhere.

Howells joined the Moravian service at God's Acre just before the sun rose. He wrote, "We found the Moravian Congregation drawn up on three sides of the square, facing east, which was beginning to redden. Suddenly the sun blazed up from the horizon like a fire, and the instant it appeared the horns of the band began to blow, and the people burst into a hymn - a thousand voices. It was the sublimest thing I have ever heard, and I don't know that there is anything to match it for dignity and solemnity in any religious rite. It made the tears come."

Nancy Rutman, Bethlehem historian and Central Moravian Church congregate, informs us that there is a lot more to the Moravian Easter services than the Sunday 6 a.m. sunrise service.

"The 11 a.m. Sunday service is the culmination of a week's worth of services featuring readings for Holy Week," Rutman said. "During the Good Friday service, the bell in the belfry is tolled at 2 p.m. to mark the time of Jesus' passing, and after the service the congregation leaves the church in absolute silence. The Great Sabbath Lovefeast on Saturday has been described as 'picnic around the Tomb.' But for the Easter Triumph service on Sunday, the choir and instrumentalists always outdo themselves, traditionally ending with the Halleluja chorus by Handel.

"A highlight of this service for me is always the singing of 'Sing Hallelujah, Praise the Lord,' an old Moravian hymn with tune by Johann Christian Bechler and text by John Swertner. The second stanza concludes with the words 'For us, for us, the Lamb was slain! Praise ye the Lord! Amen,' which the congregation sings with the utmost strength and feeling.

"For this service, the apse behind the pulpit is filled with potted palms surrounding a large cross composed of Easter lilies. The graves in God's Acre are decorated with potted hyacinths. The Bethlehem Area Moravian Trombone Choir still observes the tradition of playing outside the homes of Moravians before dawn on Easter morning, and playing for the Easter Dawn service in God's Acre after the congregation has made its way from the sanctuary to the cemetery."

Central Moravian Church pastors Hopeton Clennon and Janel Rice and music director Rebecca Kleintop Owens will lead the 2015 Moravian Central church Holy Week and Easter services as follows:

Good Friday, April 3, 2:15 p.m. (Sanctuary) and "Seven Last Words" meditative service, 7 p.m. (Old Chapel)

Great Sabbath Lovefeast, April 4, 3 p.m. in Sanctuary

Easter Sunrise, April 5, 6 a.m. in Sanctuary

Easter Worship, April 5, 9 a.m. (Old Chapel) and 11 a.m. (Sanctuary); 10 a.m. Scripture Egg Hunt on Church Green