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In the New Testament’s four Gospels, the resurrection story varies, but all tell of the four women followers of Jesus who discovered Christ’s empty tomb at dawn, said the Rev. Ginny Tobiassen, pastor of Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where one of the most well-known sunrise services is held.

It’s a message members of the Moravian Church — one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world — have sent for nearly 300 years.

It is unclear if the Moravian Church was the first to hold an Easter sunrise service.

But the denomination’s annual tradition dates to 1732 in Herrnhut, Germany, where Moravian refugees of religious persecution fled to and established the original Renewed Moravian Church settlement, according to accounts of church history.

The sunrise service is put on by the Salem Congregation, which represents 13 Moravian churches in the city, including Home Moravian Church where Tobiassen serves as minister.