On Easter morning, many Christians wake before dawn to celebrate their belief in the resurrection of Jesus, the son of God — as the sun rises.
They gather outside on beaches and church lawns, in local cemeteries and national parks, marking the holy day at the very core of Christianity. For the majority of the world’s Christians, Easter Sunday — and in turn, the sunrise service tradition — will be observed on March 31 this year.
Why does Easter move every year?
Easter is not a fixed date. It swings between March 22 and April 25 based on a calendar calculation involving the moon.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explains further: “Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon occurring either on or after the spring equinox (March 21).”
That means sunrise service attendees will be waking up early on the last day of March this year.
Is there a religious reason for Easter sunrise services?
There is biblical symbolism in the Easter worship of the early risers.
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.
“When we as Christians stand in a graveyard at dawn, we are saying we believe in the resurrection. We are here among our dead, celebrating the resurrection,” she said.
It’s a message members of the Moravian Church — one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world — have sent for nearly 300 years.
When was the first-ever Easter sunrise service?
It is unclear if the Moravian Church was the first to hold an Easter sunrise service. As Tobiassen pointed out, it is an obvious choice given the Gospel stories about the early morning visit to Jesus’ empty tomb.
But…
Read the full article here
