God's Acre

[1] American Congregationalist poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an 1842 poem called "God's Acre"[2] which referenced this term.

Particularly in the 19th century, the churchyard was referred to by a number of gentle, less stark terms, including "God's Acre".

The name comes from the belief that the bodies of the dead are "sown as seed" in God's Acre, as in a field, so that they can rise again when Jesus Christ returns to the world.

In addition, the deceased are buried by choir; to the Moravians, these were the living groups into which the Congregation was originally divided to meet the needs of the members according to their age and station in life.

In addition to the God's Acre on the Hutberg in Herrnhut there are striking God's Acres in almost every Moravian Congregation, including in Chelsea Moravian Burial Ground (part of London) in the United Kingdom, Bethania in North Carolina and Koenigsfeld in the Black Forest of Germany.

[3] The week before Easter, families and church groups clean the uniform gravestones and decorate them with flowers, transforming the God's Acre into an almost-garden like place.

The liturgy for the service is a Confession of Faith drawn up by Nicolaus Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) patron and leader of the Renewed Unitas Fratrum.

The cemetery consists of the distinct flat stones used in other God's Acres, and burial mounds mostly used by Indians.

[10] This cemetery remained active until 1762, and Nazareth grew into the second-most important site for the church in North America.

[11][10] The Jordan family had built a pavilion over the burial site which was demolished in favor of a marble Obelisk dedicated by Robert Haas later in 1867.

[11] In 1916, a two-story structure was built at the summit of the hill known as Indian Tower which has served numerous purposes throughout its existence.

A Choir System was implemented and in 1771 the first settler would die, John Birkhead, and as such a God's Acre was established in the settlement.

As the city has grown around the God's Acre, the undeveloped plot has become a sort of oasis in the urban downtown.

The land includes a natural spring whose water, local tradition holds, has healing powers.

In his will, Boylston gave the land to "God Almighty" to ensure that the water from its spring would always be free for anyone to drink.