Sunrise services in central Maine usher in Easter Sunday

Shafts of sunlight broke through a few holes in the clouds of an otherwise gray sky early Sunday as about 75 worshippers gathered along the Kennebec River and sang “He arose. He arose. Hallelujah, Christ arose” at the annual Easter sunrise service in Gardiner.

Pastor Ken Smith of the First Baptist Church of Gardiner greeted attendees from a flatbed trailer, with the traditional Easter greeting of “Christ is risen,” reflecting the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but in Ukrainian.

“Khrystos Voskres,” said Smith, who later explained he had Googled the term before the ceremony.

Worshippers greet one another Sunday after the Easter sunrise service at the boat landing on the Kennebec River in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

“This is a day to celebrate the rising of our Lord and our savior,” he said. “We’re just glad to have you all here to worship.”

Pastor Ramsey Tripp of Life Community Church in Gardiner spoke of what he described as the hope all people, even during troubled times in their lives and throughout the world, should take from Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, described in the Bible as having occurred on the third day of his burial, following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary.

“Sometimes, there are troubles, sometimes there are trials. But even in the midst of those difficulties that we sometimes face, we also know that we have a God that gives us an unshakeable hope,” Tripp said. “We’ve been through a lot the last couple of years, as communities and even as churches. And the hope of Easter is not just that, yay, it’s springtime, we finally get to see the grass get a little bit greener. The hope of Easter is that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and he has had power over sin and death.

“So that is our hope for us, our future, as well. He didn’t just stay dead. He didn’t stay in the tomb. We celebrate Easter because he rose again. How do we have unshakeable hope in the midst of trials and troubles? Well, it comes from Jesus Christ.”

The sun rises Sunday over Easter services at the boat landing on the Kennebec River in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Gardiner’s Easter sunrise service at the waterfront has been organized annually by local churches joined together in the Gardiner Area Ministerial Association, with many of those churches also holding their own Easter Sunday services later in the morning.

The Rev. Scott Dow said he has been coming to the sunrise service in Gardiner since the early 1980s, and having members of many churches gathering for Easter makes it special.

“That part of it is very important to me,” said Dow, who for many years served as chaplain at the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. “There is a broad range of doctrine and practices, but, despite the differences, we find ways to work together.”

In Waterville, about 35 worshippers gathered at the amphitheater along the RiverWalk at Head of Falls for a service led by members of the Waterville-Winslow Interfaith Council.

Worshippers drop pieces of paper into the fire Sunday during the Easter sunrise service at the RiverWalk at Head of Falls in Waterville. During the service, attendees were asked to write down the things or issues they would like to leave behind in the grave. The slips of paper were then placed into the flame. “It symbolizes the letting go of the negative in your life,” Sister Lorraine Rioux said. About 35 worshippers attended the service, held at the amphitheater overlooking the Kennebec River. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The Rev. Ian Lynch of the Waterville United Church of Christ began the service by lighting a fire and reciting a prayer, while awaiting the sunrise over the Kennebec River.

“We are thankful for the light of the rising sun. Let there be light on the path we walk,” Lynch said. “Let us remember always to be thankful that you give the gift of a new day.”

Sister Judy Donovan then led the group through an activity while kindling the holy flame. The fire, she said, is an ancient Easter vigil tradition “signifying the return of light in the darkness, the opening of the tomb and the resurrection of Jesus.”

“Our faith calls us to rekindle our fires of hope, and sometimes that means allowing some things to be transformed by a refining fire,” Donovan said.

A fire burns Sunday as worshippers look toward the rising sun during the Easter sunrise service at the RiverWalk at Head of Falls in Waterville. During the service, attendees were asked to write on small pieces of paper the things or issues they would like to leave behind in the grave The slips of paper were then placed into the fire. “It symbolizes the letting go of the negative in your life,” Sister Lorraine Rioux said. About 35 worshippers attended the service, held at the amphitheater overlooking the Kennebec River. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

During Lent, she said, the focus is on letting go of certain things, such as perfectionism, or items or issues “that rob us of the joy of living and the reality of our lives, those things that pull us away.”

“In this declining darkness, as we await the full light of the resurrection this Easter morn, I invite you to a ritual of letting go,” Donovan said.

She then instructed the group to write down words or phrases that represent what each worshipper would like to “leave behind in the grave.” One by one, each person dropped his or her note into the fire, while Lynch strummed “In the Garden” on his guitar.

The service ended shortly after sunrise, with attendees joining in for two songs, a reading of “The Three Women” and a blessing, led by Lynch.

“Blessed are you who are buried, who feel stuck in the depths of grief and despair or who sit in the pit of unknowing, you who are learning to trust the timing of a tender gardener,” Lynch said. “Blessed are you who are growing, who burst with new light and fresh creativity. And blessed are you in your season of fruitfulness, you who are learning to abide in the vine as you taste the sweetness of God’s loving kindness.”