Sunrise at FBC

One of my favorite services since I was a youngster (and that’s a loooong time ago) is the Easter Sunrise service. Not every church where we’ve ministered or attended has had this service, and we’ve also seen variety in the way it is conducted. While getting up extra early is not the part I enjoy most 🙂 , that minor inconvenience is well worth the blessings.

This year at Friendship Baptist we observed a sunrise service in our beautiful Welcome Center at 7:30,  just slightly after the actual event of the sun rising around 6:45. We have been in churches where the service was held outside and much earlier, so the sun would crest the horizon during the service- truly beautiful! However, I must admit there are advantages to a climate-controlled environment, comfortable seating, and a later start time!

One of the things I personally enjoy in a Sunrise Service is the typical simplicity. Our service at Friendship consisted primarily of Scripture reading which was an inter-lacing of the Gospel accounts beginning with the trial before the Sanhedrin and concluding with the Great Commission. There was also congregational singing, a couple brass ensemble songs, and a devotional message from Dr. Jan Milton focusing on the hope the resurrection offers the believer.  Singing is especially beautiful in our Welcome Center because it is a very acoustically “live” environment.

After the service we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast prepared by some of the men in the church. The day concluded with our normal Sunday School/ABF hour and the morning service where Pastor Vradenburgh gave the children a special object lesson in addition to his resurrection sermon.

I saw a tongue-in-cheek message on social media to the effect that if churches wanted to be authentic, the ladies would go to the Sunrise Service, then come back home to bring the men later. That’s funny, but I would have hated to miss that blessing this year at Friendship Baptist.

Written by Brent Brondyke, Music Pastor