The only time the followers of Beissel were permitted to eat meat was during the celebration of communion when lamb was served.

Strict religious lives caused these brothers and sisters to come together to worship God in other ways.

Among the sisterhood and brotherhood there included a married order of householders, which were families who supported and engaged in the everyday activities.

Other believing families settled near the community, accepted Beissel as their spiritual leader and worshipped with them on Sabbath.

The brothers and sisters of Ephrata are famous for their writing and publishing of hymns, and the composition of tunes in four voices.

[7] Beissel served as the community's composer as well as spiritual leader, and devised his own system of composition.

Before the publication began at the request of a group of Mennonites from Montgomery County, it had to be translated from the original Holland Dutch into German, which was completed by Peter Miller of the Ephrata Community.

In 1941, a 28 acres (110,000 m2) Ephrata tract of land with remaining buildings was conveyed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for use as a state historical site.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission led excavations there which, among other things, uncovered the Cloister's use as a hospital during the Revolutionary War (1775–83).

Of special note, the only glass trumpet of its kind in North America was unearthed by archaeologists in 1998 at the Cloister.