Welcoming Easter

Churches hold fire vigils, services at sunrise and baptisms to greet holy day

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Easter illustration.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Easter illustration.

Arkansans will celebrate Easter in a variety of ways, including fire vigils, bluegrass, sunrise services and baptisms.

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Democrat-Gazette file photo

Members of New Creation Dance Company will perform during the 27th annual Community Easter Sunrise Service. The service begins at 7 a.m. at First Security Amphitheater in the River Market District.

Members of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Little Rock will usher in Easter with fire.

The church will have an Easter fire vigil beginning at 11 p.m. today and continuing until 6 a.m. Sunday. An outdoor fire will be lighted and all are invited to gather around to wait for the dawn of Easter. The sanctuary will also be open for prayer and meditation throughout the night.

The Rev. Russ Breshears said he learned about the tradition of Easter fires while in seminary. Easter fires are common in the Catholic and Anglican traditions, but much less so for Methodists. And, while the vigils in Catholic and Anglican churches include specific liturgy, the goal for this vigil is simply to "stay awake and not deny the Lord."

"We remember Peter denied Jesus, and it was around the fire," he said. "Our time will be a time of telling some of the old Bible stories and reflecting on our lives and the wonderful notion of the vigil is just to keep watch. I think wonderful things will happen around the fire."

Breshears said he hopes the time around the fire will inspire conversations on the struggles, temptations and triumphs of life.

"I love this whole idea of a fire and church members and believers gathering around the fire and sharing our faith and our lives together," he said.

Breshears said members will come and go throughout the night. Night owls are welcome to come in the middle of the night, while early risers might prefer to come just before dawn. Others might stay the entire night. He said experiencing the journey of Holy Week, including the somberness of Good Friday and the long wait of the vigil, are essential to the Easter story.

"I believe with all my heart, to have a meaningful Easter you have to go through the Passion," he said. "It's sad because fewer and fewer people are willing to go to a Good Friday service. But Easter rings hollow, it's reduced to bunnies and chocolate eggs, if you don't go through and understand the suffering [that came before]."

As members sit together through the cold, dark night, he hopes they will find the dawn even sweeter.

"Anything is bearable with your friends and faith and fellowship. John Wesley said the New Testament knows no such thing as a solitary Christian," Breshears said. "He would say to keep the embers burning. If an ember falls away, it quickly turns cold so we watch the fire and to keep it going you have to be around other believers and you have to give each other hope and warmth."

In addition to the vigil, the church -- at 2223 Durwood Road -- will have worship services at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

MORNING MUSIC

First Presbyterian Church in Argenta will welcome Easter with bluegrass. The outdoor service will begin at 9 a.m. and will feature Arkansas Trainwreck. There will be bluegrass music, Scripture readings and a short message, as well as Communion. Chairs will be available but worshippers can also take their own or blankets.

"It's a picniclike atmosphere. We get a lot of neighborhood folks," said the Rev. Anne Russ. "It's become so popular hardly anyone comes to the traditional service, but we decided to keep doing it because we do have a few who really want it."

Russ said the church tried the bluegrass service six years ago as a less formal option for Easter.

"There are so many people who are kind of intimidated, walking into church for the first time or they have negative connotations with church," she said. "We were thinking what would be accessible for people who usually don't go to church but think, 'Well, it's Easter ...."

The congregation tried it, and it was so successful they've stuck with it. The band will continue to play after the service while worshippers visit and enjoy the music.

"We always want people, especially new people, to feel welcome," Russ said. "We always want to leave Easter with a sense of hope. It's a celebration of the Resurrection and we want people to leave feeling hopeful and renewed."

The church is at 201 W. Fourth St., North Little Rock. A traditional service will be held inside at 11 a.m.

EASTER ON THE RIVERBANK

Thousands are expected to attend the 27th annual Community Easter Sunrise Service in Little Rock's River Market District on Sunday. The service, organized by Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, will be held at 7 a.m. at First Security Amphitheater in Julius Breckling Riverfront Park.

The service has been an annual tradition for Drake and Melissa Hawkins since it started in 1989. The Hawkinses, members of the church for almost 28 years, are serving as co-chairmen of this year's service.

"We've attended almost every year since the beginning," said Melissa Hawkins. "We raised our family going there and have really fond memories of that first service of the morning. It's held a special place in our hearts since the beginning."

Organizers estimate that more than 2,700 attended last year's service, which the church started as a way to bring the community together.

"It was a way to bring our church to the community and involve other denominations and cross sections of the community that might not even go to church," Hawkins said.

This year's service will feature music by the combined choirs of Pulaski Heights UMC, Philander Smith College, Arkansas Youth Chorale and First Baptist Church of North Little Rock. Entertainment will be provided by soloist Christine Donahue Mayo, the New Creation Dance Company and Ozark Point Brass. The morning's offering will go to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

Hawkins said she's hoping for nice weather.

"We've been in the rain before and it's usually always cold -- colder than people think it's going to be," she said. "You can wear bluejeans or Sunday clothes but you do need to be warm."

Hawkins said she enjoys the music each year and simply being along the riverbank in the early morning among her fellow community members.

The service will be held regardless of the weather. Some seating is available but those attending can take lawn chairs or blankets. Pets on a leash are also welcome. The ecumenical service will last one hour.

"Everyone is welcome," Hawkins said. "And it truly is an uplifting experience. If you've never been, it's something you need to do ... just to be on the river at sunrise is an experience in itself and you just feel so good when you leave and so proud of your community, too."

CELEBRATING NEW LIFE

The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock expects to welcome more than 570 new Catholics to the church during Easter vigils held tonight throughout the state. The Rev. Erik Pohlmeier, pastor at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church in Little Rock, said the tradition of baptisms on Easter is as ancient as the church.

"Baptism has always been connected to Easter," he said. "It's the time of new life and baptism is the sacrament of new life, so from the early days, they prepared for joining the church then."

Even for baptisms performed at other times of the year, the connection to Easter remains by way of the Paschal candle, one of the central symbols of Easter.

"Throughout the year when we celebrate baptisms, the Easter candle is always lit and the child receives a candle lit from that," Pohlmeier said.

The Easter vigil will start at 8 p.m. today outside the church with the Easter candle lit by a fire. Worshippers will then enter the darkened church following the light of the candle. Their own candles will then be lighted.

"The darkness of the church is scattered by the light of the candles as the light grows," Pohlmeier said. "It symbolizes the light of the Resurrection and new life."

The service will include a series of readings from the Old and New Testaments tracing the work of God throughout history.

"What we are celebrating is not just a historical re-enactment but God's work in the world, and we receive that in our own place and time through these sacraments," Pohlmeier said.

Two groups will be welcomed into the church -- those being baptized for the first time and others who have been baptized before who will make a profession of faith. Pohlmeier said his parish usually has 20 to 25 baptisms or professions each Easter. He hopes all who are there will leave with a sense of renewal.

"God's grace is active. It's not just a history lesson of what God has done but the active, real presence of God now in our lives," he said. "We are celebrating the new life of God in the world. There's a spirit of joy and a sense of renewal. The highlight of the whole year is the Easter vigil. Everything else is flowing from that moment."

The church is at 1003 N. Tyler St. Mass on Easter will be at 8 and 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Religion on 04/04/2015

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