Seasons > Easter > Ways to Celebrate Easter in the Church > Easter Sunrise Service

An Easter Sunrise service is a popular way to commemorate how the women and disciples discovered that Jesus was no long dead, early Easter morning. Some churches hold these services inside their churches, others find locations to hold the service outside. Please DO NOT plan to hold a service in a parking lot, as some do. It may be an open area to congregate, but it would not feel very celebratory! Japanese churches hold a service in a graveyard--how appropriate! Holding the sunrise service in a location separate from the church grounds requires getting permission as well as the logistics of working out seating and setting up a sound system if attendance will be high. This is a good opportunity to cooperate with other area churches.

Sunrise services usually involve music, prayer, and a message centered around the resurrection. It might also be the perfect chance to get church members involved in doing some kind of creative presentation, such as a mime or dramatization. Many churches also serve a breakfast-- since everyone has left home early to come to the service. It also feels more festive when everyone gathers around food.

Big churches that have a large kitchen and kitchen staff, or large army of volunteers, may choose to serve an elaborate breakfast such as hot crossed buns. Other churches prefer to keep the menu more simple and serve a pancake breakfast (which is still a lot of work for a big crowd!) If you are short on volunteers, you can always buy some kind of bread for church members to enjoy around tables, or as a picnic on the grass. I heard of one group that gathered near a lake and grilled fish to put in sandwiches--how cool is that?! That’s just about as close you can get to commemorating the resurrection appearance when Jesus grilled fish for the disciples’ breakfast, and miraculously filled their nets with so many fish that the boats nearly sank.

These Easter eggs had rubber bands wrapped around them before dipping them in the dye.

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Seasons > Easter > Ways to Celebrate Easter in the Church > Easter Sunrise Service