Easter Rites With Joyful Noise

A traditional Easter service might go something like this: Rise before dawn to greet the sunrise, don new spring dresses and pastel-hued ties, go to church with the parents and Grandma.

That wasn’t so much the case Sunday at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, where more than 4,000 jeans-clad, flip-flop wearing worshipers gathered under a tent at the Orange County Fairgrounds for two Easter services that seemed more like rock concerts than religious ceremonies. Even Pastor Mike Erre, 33, delivered his sermons sans tie with his blue shirt untucked from his khakis. Congregants came clutching Starbucks Frappuccinos and cellphones, looking as if they just walked off the beach.

Sunday’s message, though, was the same at the fairgrounds as it was in churches and services elsewhere in the country.

“He is risen,” Erre said, noting that Easter marks Christ’s resurrection after the crucifixion.

“There aren’t just movies being made about him. There aren’t just articles being written about him,” Erre said. “There are people who are encountering him 2,000 years later.... He remains as compelling and controversial as he ever was.”

Before Erre’s sermon, several church members performed their interpretation of Jesus’ experiences with a drumbeat-style rhythmic dance that was a cross between Broadway’s “Stomp” and the Blue Man Group.

“We do stuff like this quite often,” Erre said. “We’re not afraid to express truth in a lot of different ways.”

And with about 60% of its congregation ages 18 to 26, the services had a definite MTV feel to them.

“We feel like God has given us a pretty good niche,” Erre said. “So often churches obscure God’s message -- the simple message of God’s love.”

Jamie Ganz, 23, who drives to Costa Mesa from La Mirada for services every week, said she appreciates the creative effort.

“I’m an artist,” she said. “This is one of the only churches that uses creativity to express their joy and love for God.”

To the north, however, tradition, or at least a modified tradition, held strong. Renovations at the Hollywood Bowl pushed regulars of the annual Easter sunrise service there to an outdoor event next to the Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills’ Hall of Liberty.

Against the backdrop of a giant mosaic of Revolutionary War scenes, 2,000 white folding chairs were occupied by an eclectic group of worshipers. Some wore suits and ties, others were bundled in scarves and blankets. One woman was clad in 1970s punk-rock regalia.

As the sky slowly turned from black to purple to blue, the congregation listened to hymns by a 120-member youth choir from Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita. Lloyd Ogilvie, former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, delivered the sermon.

During the choir’s final song, a flock of doves was released, to the surprise of the crowd.

“This was one of the nicest I’ve attended, but it’s still not the Bowl,” said Suzanne Simmons, a Park Mesa Heights resident who has attended several sunrise services, including once at a substance abuse rehab center. “I remember one year [at the Bowl] where they had children from all different countries singing.”

Nestled between a volleyball net and a lifeguard stand at Will Rogers State Beach, hundreds of barefoot worshipers sat on beach chairs and huddled under blankets in the deep sand. The event, a collaboration by several churches in West Los Angeles and now in its 27th year, began as the sun rose from behind the Santa Monica Mountains and ended nearly an hour later with several baptisms in the chilly waters of the Pacific Ocean.

“It’s unique, and it’s right in God’s creation,” said Will Bredberg, a pastor at the First Baptist Church of West Los Angeles. The newly risen sun offered him little comfort, being tightly wrapped in a beach towel with multicolored stripes, occasionally shaking after performing his latest baptism.

“Every year, it grows a little bit,” he said. “You have to imagine it was just like this with the sun coming up during the resurrection.”

To many, the setting was perfect for reflection.

“We come here because it’s ecumenical,” said Alice Wroblicky of Pacific Palisades, now in her 10th year of attendance with her husband. “It’s very different for us. It’s very inspiring for us.”

Although it was not the first time they witnessed a service in which pastors wore gym pants and baptisms were performed in wetsuits, they said the event had added importance this year with the conflict in Iraq.

“That’s in our prayers,” said Emil Wroblicky, wearing a green U.S. Marines cap, having served with the Corps in World War II. “I know it’s tough for them. Their pain must be tremendous, but we look at the resurrection and see that there is life after this.” The war wasn’t mentioned in the service.

Many first-timers attended at the behest of friends or were motivated by Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ.”

“I’ve been very inspired by the movie,” said Peggy Galveda of Playa del Rey, wearing a sun visor an hour before the start of the service and cradling a warm cup of coffee. “I feel close to God.”

The Wroblickys looked to the ocean as the church band -- its equipment wedged into the sand -- lifted the crowd to its feet.

“A lot of times we see dolphins come up,” Emil Wroblicky said. “They must hear the music.”

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Times staff writer Jean-Paul Renaud contributed to this report.