Bringing Easter to life

The Bible doesn't really describe in detail the place where Jesus shares his last meal with his disciples, so the scene at Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau isn't meant to be historically accurate.

"It puts the worshippers in the frame of mind and almost places them with the disciples at the Last Supper," said the Rev. Scott Moon, the church pastor who portrays Jesus for the Maundy Thursday dramatization.

With stages set in Mediterranean scenes or crosses and banners hanging in the sanctuary, area churches are preparing for the final services of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter.

During a dress rehearsal Monday evening for the production at Grace, disciples received instruction about where they were to sit, how they were to enter the upper room scene and when the choir and congregation would sing. Thirteen men and four women will be part of the dramatization.

The idea for many of these services isn't to give people a history lesson in the Bible but to focus on audience members' relationship with Jesus Christ, said the Rev. Mike Shupert at Cape Girardeau's First Baptist Church. Shupert is helping organize the Good Friday community service sponsored by the Downtown Council of Churches.

Carrying the cross through downtown Cape Girardeau for the "Way of the Cross Walk" on Good Friday is just a means of "trying to get us to imagine what it would have been like," Shupert said.

Area pastors expect Easter will take on an added dimension this year because so many people have seen or heard about the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ."

"Everything from the world situation, the war on terrorism or the movie 'The Passion' all contribute a sense of interest, and I expect people to seek out worship services," Moon said.

Easter and Christmas are traditionally services that attract people who are sporadic about church attendance.

"It seems there's been a growing movement for people to come back to church," said the Rev. Thomas Kiefer of St. Mary's Cathedral.

The Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran churches all will observe an Easter vigil on Saturday evening. The service "picks up where we left off on Good Friday," Kiefer said.

The vigil is a time of waiting, much like the disciples waited for the news that Jesus had risen. At the Catholic church service, adult confirmation candidates are baptized and can take communion for the first time.

At Bald Knob Cross near Alto Pass, Ill., crowds will gather Saturday night as part of an informal Easter vigil. The welcome center is open all night Saturday and breakfast is served beginning at 4 a.m. The sunrise service is at 6 a.m., with Dr. Jerry Cain, president of Judson College in Elgin, Ill., speaking.

Because greater than normal attendance is expected on Easter at La Croix United Methodist Church, the church will move its worship services to the Osage Community Centre for the weekend. Children's activities will be held at the church campus.

The move is in part due to construction at the church, but also because pastor Ron Watts has been preaching about "The Passion." In the first week of the sermon series, the church broke its previous attendance records of 1,600 people for its weekend services.

The congregation has set a new attendance record on Easter for the past three years.

"I'm sure this year will be no different because 'The Passion' has brought people back to church," said Tonia McGill, administrative assistant at the church.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126