As the Easter holiday approaches, Christians look forward to celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ while children anticipate candy-filled baskets and Easter egg hunts.
Church leaders and community organizers are making plans to meet both those needs. This is the information that was available as of press time.
In the upcoming days, churches throughout the area will hold special services, which include the following.
The Chandler Ministerial Alliance will hold Holy Week services from noon to 12:30 starting Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 2. Chandler area pastors will lead the services, which will be in the Family Life Center of First Christian Church, 614 Manvel Avenue in Chandler. A free to-go lunch provided by the churches will be given out at the end of each service.
The schedule of speakers is as follows: Monday, John Casey, First Baptist Church; Tuesday, Steve Polaski, Victory Life Church; Wednesday, Keith Cole, First Church of the Nazarene; Thursday, David Burgess, God’s House of Prayer; and Friday’s speaker is David Roberts from the Cowboy Church.
A community Easter service will be hosted by the Prague Ministerial Alliance at 6 p.m., Sunday, March 28. The event will be at Faith Bible Church, 1409 E. Main Street in Prague.
The Meeker Ministerial Alliance will host a sunrise service, 7 a.m., Easter Sunday, April 4, at First Baptist Church, 625 Loy Street in Meeker. Bill Foreman from the Meeker Assembly of God will provide the message.
Living Waters Church, Hwy. 62 in Meeker will provide both religious services and an Easter egg hunt at 10:45 a.m., Sunday, April 4. Pastor Mike Hall invites the community to an outdoor Easter celebration of the Resurrected Savior. Bring lawn chairs or sit in your car to enjoy live music and an inspirational message. There will be an egg hunt for all the children immediately following the services.
Stroud Lake will be the place of worship for the sunrise service hosted by the Stroud Ministerial Alliance on Easter Sunday. The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and join them at 7 a.m., as Caleb Holzrichter, associate pastor at Stroud First Baptist Church presents the message.
First Baptist Church, 310 Birch Street in Wellston will hold a sunrise service at 7 a.m., with breakfast immediately following. The children can take part in an Easter egg hunt at 9:45 a.m. before Sunday School and normal church services will follow with an emphasis on the resurrection.
Fun for the whole family can be had while children participate in Easter activities including the ones listed below.
The Chandler Area Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with VFW Post #1719 Auxiliary is sponsoring the Chandler Downtown Easter Egg Hunt. The event will begin 11 a.m., Saturday, April 3, on the Lincoln County Courthouse lawn. Children ages 10 and under are invited to gather candy-filled eggs. They will be divided into three age groups, 0-3 years old, 4-6 years and 7-10 years. An opportunity to have photos taken with the Easter bunny will also be available.
Davenport will hold their egg hunt at North Park at 1 p.m., also on Saturday, April 3.
Meeker First Baptist Church will host Easter activities starting at 10 a.m., April 3 on the south side of Meeker Lake near the pavilion. Thousands of eggs and 100 prize baskets have been provided for the children as well as sack lunches to be handed out. All are welcome to participate in the free event.
The Prague Chamber of Commerce will host the Easter “Egg” Stravaganza on Saturday, April 3, at the Prague City Park. Mr. & Mrs. Easter Bunny will be there to greet the children at 10:30 a.m. at the Park Gazebo where there will also be games for them to enjoy.
At noon the children can take part in the Big Easter Egg Hunt with over 4,000 eggs to gather. Each age division will have a grand prize egg and 50 eggs will have gold dollar coins in them.
Activities for the Wellston community will begin at 10 a.m. on April 3 with an Easter egg hunt for the children at the football field. The field will be divided into sections for different age groups. A Hot Dog Fundraiser will be held immediately following the egg hunt in a joint effort to raise funds for the Wellston Chamber of Commerce and Wellston Fire Department.