The sky was dark … the air was cold … the clock said 4:30 AM and my alarm clock was yelling at me to get up.
You know, I think next year I’ll download the Morman Tabernacle Choir singing Christ the Lord is Risen today and use that as my alarm clock for the sunrise service!
I am SO not a morning person, but there is something really fun every year about waking up first thing and group texting with all of your clergy friends about how tired you are gathering with your church members before the sun is even up to worship! We have our sunrise service at the Anawan Club in Rehoboth every year – they are so gracious in letting us use their space!
We knew as soon as we got there that it was going to be a beautiful sunrise! You could just tell. 🙂 A couple of us usually kayak over to the service (earlier wakeup call!) but everything was still iced over two days before Easter when Bruce checked it. We realized as the sun came up that we COULD have kayaked – the ice literally must have cleared the day before! Ugh. We were so bummed – it’s such a fun tradition.
We have a living cross that everyone adorns with flowers during the service. Usually people bring them from their yards but given the fact that we still have snow on the ground this year, the Deacons decided to buy a bunch of flowers and hand them out to people with their bulletins. 🙂
The confirmation class leads the service every year! This year I have SEVEN BOYS and two girls. The poor girls!
The first year I lived in Rehoboth, one of our seniors came with his trumpet and led the music. But then he went to college 🙁 and the next year we tried to do an a capella thing and it kind of failed miserably. So the next year I had hired Jordan and asked him if he – on the off chance – wanted to come to the service with a guitar. Miraculously, he said yes! And this year I convinced a choir member to come with him. It really helps having someone lead! A capella + 6 am + 30 degrees = just doesn’t work.
When we print the bulletins for this service in three different colors. During each hymn, the bulletin says something like, “If you have a yellow/green/pink bulletin, you can bring your flowers to the cross during this hymn.” It helps with crowd control – and makes the bulletins pretty!
This is what 30 degrees looks like. BRR.
GORGEOUS!
And by the time we said our final Hallelujah! Amen! – the sun was up!
It was a gorgeous service as usual! There was a threat of rain but there was not a drop in sight!
And now that we know the reservoir is open … it’s time to unload the kayaks for the summer!
