Broadcast Of Sunrise Service Dates To The Early Days Of Local Radio
The Moravian Easter Sunrise Service, an annual Winston-Salem tradition since 1772, will be held Sunday, April 5. It's expected to draw thousands of worshippers to Old Salem.
What many don't know is that the historic service has also become a part of radio history.
Bishop J. Kenneth Pfohl opened the 1960 Sunrise service with the same words that had preceded him for 187 years: "The Lord is risen."
The service traditionally draws thousands of pilgrims to Old Salem. But for those who can't make it, the service has for years also been broadcast on the radio.
It begins in Salem Square and parishioners walk a short distance to the Moravian burial ground, also known as God's Acre. During the walk they're accompanied by bands playing back and forth.
That interplay of music is a highlight of the service.
The broadcast goes back to the earliest days of commercial radio in Winston-Salem. Just days after first going on the air, WSJS turned to the annual Easter rite to fill its first Sunday morning broadcast in 1930. The station has carried it ever since.
And it wasn't just locals tuning in. Within ten years, CBS Radio also picked up the service for its affiliates around the country. Richard Starbuck, a Moravian archivist and historian, says that national exposure sparked interest in the Salem gathering.
“Throughout the nation people could tune in," he says. "I've had visitors to Home Church come in and say ‘I remember growing up in South Carolina, my family would tune in Easter Sunday morning to get that radio broadcast.'”
The program was also picked up by Armed Forces Radio who carried it to troops during World War II. By the middle of the century, the broadcast had helped make the service so well-known that Winston-Salem for a time was dubbed “Easter City.”
Clockworks that date back to more than 200 years tick rhythmically above what Ron Bell calls his office. He's a volunteer technician who runs one of three sound boards that power the broadcast.
The office, as he calls it, is a dimly lit control room in the corner of the attic at Home Moravian Church.
One of his jobs is to bring up the sound as the broadcast gets underway. Since he has no windows, that can pose a challenge.
“I can't see the podium, so I need an assistant point to me to tell me to turn the microphone up," she says."The podium is wooden and will resonate as they walk up, and we have the volume down so if you don't turn the microphone up, you don't get the full ‘The Lord is risen,' which is a lot of pressure.'”
Bell realized the reach of the broadcast at an early age – in the 1950's a great aunt of his used to listen to it from her home in Colorado. He also has long ties to the Salem Sunrise Service himself, starting when he joined the band at just seven years old. He's worked on the radio side of the service for the last quarter century.
“The service is something I've been involved in since I was a kid," he says. "And being a Moravian it's a special thing. Moravians are geared toward service and just the opportunity to be able to provide the service is what draws me back.”
This is the 86th year that WSJS will carry the Sunrise Service. It's believed to be one of the longest continually running specials in radio history.
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