Sunrise services set

With Easter comes new hope, local ministers said.

Christians around the world will celebrate the holiest day of the church calendar tomorrow as they remember Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

For Christ the King Catholic Church priest, the Rev. Tony Pullakattu, Easter is the foundation of the Catholic faith.

“Through all of the suffering, the crucifixion and death — all of that had a meaning because of the resurrection,” Pullakattu said. “When God became man, his mission on earth was permanent. The resurrection gave meaning to his death.

“If there wasn’t a resurrection, it would be like any other death,” he said.

Additionally, Pullakattu said that through Christ’s resurrection after his suffering and death, God’s son brought forgiveness and more importantly, a relationship.

“The peace is the gift of Easter,” he said. “He made us through that resurrection. He made us through the love of God.”

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church rector the Rev. Cindy Howard said a quote she read recently helps sum up the meaning of Easter well.

“I recently read a wonderful quote that said, ‘Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.’ I think this is a very good description of what Easter teaches us,” Howard said. “In a broken world that can sometimes be full of death and darkness, there is hope and there is a future. New life is possible. God is alive and making God’s self known in powerful and life-giving ways.

“What an incredible message we find in the empty tomb of Easter morning,” she said.

Christ the King Catholic Church will hold its Easter mass at 11:15 a.m. St. Mary’s has a service at 9:15 a.m.

Other Easter services in the area include:

• A sunrise service at 6:30 a.m. in the Andalusia Memorial Cemetery on Hwy. 55 and Easley Road;

• A sunrise service at 6:30 a.m. at Dozier Baptist Church;

• A Easter sunrise service at Eldridge and Grimes pond on Sanford Road at 6:30 a.m. with the Rev. Tim Trent. Coffee will be served at 6:15 a.m.

• A sunrise service at 7 a.m. at First Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church. There will also be morning worship at 10:15 a.m.;

• An Easter morning worship at Westview Baptist Church in Opp at 10:15 a.m.; and,

• Homecoming and Easter service at Rawls Baptist Church at 11 a.m.