Dozens attend morning Easter service in downtown Cape

They gathered before dawn Sunday to celebrate renewal and hope and joy found in a risen savior.

And Takashi Yamada was among the crowd at First Presbyterian Church to worship Easter morning. About 70 people were at the church for the annual service sponsored by the Downtown Council of Churches.

As usual, Yamada carried his camera to photograph the service and his friends who had come to share with him, but this time would be a little different.

Yamada was baptized Sunday morning in a service at Livingway Foursquare Church.

His story is an Easter story -- one of transformation.

Lynn Harper, of First Baptist Church, introduced her friend to the gathering at the sunrise service. The two met while Yamada was a student at Southeast Missouri State University.

Harper read from e-mails Yamada had sent her about his journey of faith, to a point in his life where religion is much more important to him than it was before.

"I'm going to be a new person on Easter," he said. "My heart is trembling because God is so awesome."

His story reminds others to live eagerly, Harper said. Yamada recalled everything that led to his baptism, from a visit to an Easter pageant to the day he walked in the Way of the Cross, a sort of pilgrimage journey that relives the walk Jesus took to his crucifixion.

"I'm going to go with the cross in life," he wrote.

That should be a lesson for everyone, Harper said.

But sometimes Christians become ashamed of their faith, the Rev. Dr. William Bird told the gathering.

"We do have a hope that transcends anything that we are going through," he said. "We can look beyond the dismal of tomorrow to a brighter day."

He encouraged the crowd to be more willing to tell others about the Easter story. "If we really believe that Easter story, then we've got a job to do."

Dismal weather forced the sunrise gathering from the Mississippi riverfront to the church sanctuary. But the rain didn't dampen their spirits as they sang the proclamation hymn "He Lives."

"The challenge is to have the urgency to share with others that joy of knowing the living savior," Harper said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126