Images of Emmaus
The Emmaus Shelter House (Zuflucht Haus), built in 1734, is the oldest continuously inhabited structure in the Lehigh Valley. It remained occupied by private residents until the 1950s.
The 1803 House, the home of Jacob Ehrenhardt, Jr., the son of one of the founders of Emmaus. He was briefly expelled from the Moravian Church for joining the Pennsylvania militia during the Revolutionary War, but then welcomed back when the war was over. (Moravians are traditionally pacifists.) It remained occupied until 1975.
A traditional barn and home, now part of the Wildlands Conservancy
A trail at the Wildlands Conservancy
The Emmaus Moravian Church, founded in 1747
God's Acre is the site of the area's first multi-denominational community church, erected in 1742, and its original cemetery. The first burial here was in 1743. Simply-engraved flat stones mark the graves of Moravian Congregation original members, two Indian girls, and Emmaus men who served in the American Army in the Revolution. 'God's Acre' (Gottesacker, literally 'Field of God') is an ancient Germanic term for a burial ground and now is the traditional term used for Moravian cemeteries.
Having occasionally visited your blog for a while, I hadn’t realised that you actually serve in a place called Emmaus. It seems a beautiful place. There was a Moravian settlement near where I used to live in Droylesden (much less beautiful a place), which is still inhabited and is like stepping back in time. Something you wouldn’t expect in a suburb of Manchesterm but there it is.
Excellent post! Thank you.