Easter Sunrise Service in Porterville open to all

Celebrating a shared tenet of their faith, members of a broad cross-section of area churches will gather Sunday for a community-wide Easter Sunrise Service.

The Porterville Area Ministerial Association is hosting the service with song and a sermon starting at 6:30 a.m. at Murry Park, East Putnam Avenue at Park Drive.

PAMA includes about 30 different churches, of different denominations, according to the Rev. Don Roulsten of the Grand Avenue United Methodist Church.

“I feel it’s wonderful to celebrate [Easter] with Christians all across the community,” he said. In fact, “that’s what Christians all over the world will be celebrating, all getting together and having a sunrise service.

“What we are going to be celebrating this Easter is that God so loved the world that he sent his son so that he could be a sacrifice and we could be forgiven.”

The worldwide tradition celebrates the resurrection with a service that usually takes place outdoors, and is timed to see the sunrise during the festivities.

“We usually see 200 to 300 people there, from a variety of churches, Roulsten said. “It’s just a beautiful time, to see the sunrise and celebrate.”

A few churches in town will have their own sunrise services, he said; PAMA’s is the community service.

Between six and seven ministers are scheduled to play some role in the service, he said, including leading the benediction and song. In all, the service should last about 45 minutes, he said.

The Rev. Ron Gerking of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is giving the main sermon. The Rev. Rich Hartenburg of First Assembly of God is singing a solo.

Gerking, self-described as “the new kid on the block,” said he does not know what to expect Sunday, other than a time of unity among the local churches. A member of PAMA for only three months now, he said he was recently asked by Roulsten to give a sermon at the event, and agreed to do so.

One thing he said he is hopeful for is that the service is welcoming to the general public.

“I’m a Seventh-day Adventist minister, who is preaching on a Sunday morning,” Gerking said. “So it certainly isn’t denominationally segregated. It is really about people coming to experience the heart of what we believe. Maybe, if they believe a little different, it is an opportunity for them to be encouraged with some new thoughts.”

The Rev. Rudy Martinez of Porterville Evangelical Free Church said he usually leads the song service, but this year is passing on the role to his 16-year-old son, Ryan, who attends Monache High School and is a member of the church’s youth group.

Rudy Martinez, a long-term member of PAMA, said of the Easter Sunrise Service:

“It’s a great event. The message is a message of hope for the community. As the sun rises, it’s a good opportunity to celebrate.”

-- Contact The Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, Ext. 1043.