This Day In History
This day in history of the church I and my wife grew up in Friedberg Moravian Church, today is an important date in Friedberg history. On May 4, 1766 Brother Peter Frey, Sr. was called Home. He was laid to rest in what is now Friedberg’s God’s Acre on May 5th as the first interment. The burial ground was laid out on Adam Spach’s land at the southern border of the Wachovia Tract.
On May 6, 1766, Rev. Johann Michael Graff consecrated the graveyard with a prayer and sermon on “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it bringeth no fruit” (John 12:24).
This was the same year that the builders from Bethabara started constructing buildings in Salem, 5 years before the first burial in God’s Acre in Salem and 10 years before the start of the American Revolutionary War.
Friedberg’s God’s Acre is now 250 years old and has had approximately 2,000 burials.
Peter Frey’s original gravestone is on display in Friedberg’s Historical Room.
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I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
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