Sunrise for Son rise

By Philip Navarrette/reporter@trcle.com

March 23, 2008 04:17 pm

— Today is Easter Sunday, and while many around the area are putting on their dress clothes and preparing for church and egg hunts, a different tradition is being overlooked but not completely forgotten.
It dates back hundreds of years and was once celebrated by many.
Sunrise services have fallen into steep decline, but some Johnson County churches hold on to them.
The observance of sunrise service is a centuries-old custom typically practiced by Protestants. The tradition apparently began in Europe and spread to the Americas because of its popularity.
The significance behind the service is what makes it so important.
“We do it in honor of the tradition of sunrise services and the reminder of Mary [Magdalene] going to the tomb and finding out the Lord wasn’t there,” said Joe Ardy, pastor of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Cleburne. “We’re doing ours just before dawn.”
The sunrise service reminds participants that as they gather at dawn, others did the same the day Jesus was raised and praised him.
“This is something so very important for them to say goodbye to their savior,” Ardy said.
Watts Chapel United Methodist Church pastor Susan Hoffman took over as spiritual leader of the church in June and said Friday she looks forward to her church’s sunrise service.
“This is going to be nice,” she said. “When you remember the Scripture about the women going to the tomb, they go at the crack of dawn and find the tomb empty. That’s what makes this so special.”
The services usually include Scripture readings and songs of worship among those gathered.
And they are usually conducted outside so the crowd can see the sun rising, as Jesus rose from the dead, said Joe Stephens, pastor of Willow Springs Baptist Church in Alvarado. But they can be held indoors if the weather is uncooperative, as the Willow Springs church is planning Sunday.
“I love to have them outside,” Stephens said. “I wish we could have this one outside. That’s what most churches did 50 or 60 years ago.”
But the tradition that was so alive decades ago is being forgotten, and the way of the sunrise service may be coming to an end.

A diminishing practice
The Easter tradition that was practiced by numerous area churches is now slowing down. As of Friday, only three churches have notified the Times-Review about plans for hosting a sunrise service — Ascension Lutheran in Cleburne, Willow Springs Baptist Church in Alvarado and Watts Chapel United Methodist Church in Grandview.
The lack of participation is alarming, Stephens said.
“Many of the churches held them in years past, but I don’t know what’s happened,” he said.
Stephens said that when he was young, he’d hear of services being held all over the area, by all sorts of different denominations. Now, he’s not sure if its because it’s just too early or if people no longer care, he said.
Ardy said he has observed that few churches seem to be practicing the tradition as they used to, but his church plans to keep it alive.
“We will continue to have it, as we have for so long,” he said. “It’s that tradition of going to the tomb and finding it empty.
“We’ve been doing those the nine years I’ve been here, and the congregation has been doing it long before that.”
Ardy plans to recognize the event with the song “Were You There,” the first three verses, which talk about going down to the tomb and finding Jesus risen from the grave.
Hoffman said the tradition is rooted in strong beliefs.
“I’ve been celebrating the sunrise service for a long time. I always went to them when I was a kid, and I have no idea why people aren’t doing it as much anymore,” she said.
Living in the New England area, Hoffman said many churches held sunrise services through sun, snow and rain. Low attendance in past sunrise services may be a reason for the decline, but that is only speculation, Hoffman said.
Though the early morning tradition might be approaching dusk in the grand scheme of things, the pastors all voiced hope that the sunrise service will continue and grow in popularity in later years.
“I just know that whoever comes will not regret it,” Ardy said. “It’s a remarkable celebration.”

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