For Easter, He’s at Their Service

By the time most of the estimated 15,000 people are seated for today’s Easter sunrise service at Orange Coast College stadium, Jerry White will have already assembled an army of ushers, wiped the seats and helped ferry the elderly into the stadium.

As head usher for Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, White will celebrate his 15th Easter service in customary attire: a crisp dress shirt, tie and sport coat with headphones over both ears hooked to a mobile radio hung by a belt loop.

Although there’s no pay in it, White said, “It’s the way I serve the Lord.”

White will join hundreds of thousands throughout Orange County celebrating the most important Christian festival of the year.

For many Christians, the weeklong religious events began March 31, Palm Sunday, followed by Good Friday, which observes the death of Jesus on the cross. Holy Saturday is a day of solemn vigil, followed by Easter Sunday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.

On Wednesday, thousands of Jews celebrated Passover Seder, the ritual that commemorates the Israelites’ narrow escape from slavery.

Churches throughout Orange County are celebrating Easter with special ceremonies. At Holy Family Cathedral in Orange, Roman Catholic Bishop Norman F. McFarland will officiate at 11 a.m. In Garden Grove, eight services will be held at the Crystal Cathedral, where the Rev. Robert H. Schuller officiates four services, beginning at 9 a.m.

Also, about 500 people are expected at the 23rd annual Easter sunrise service in Laguna Beach at the Irvine Bowl. In Cypress, Forest Lawn will hold its 35th annual sunrise service.

For Calvary Chapel’s White, the sunrise services will culminate a frantic week of last-minute strategy meetings, checking off a list of to-dos such as helping set up the stage and monitoring the roadies who brought the sound system fresh from a rock tour in Canada.

White, 62, is a retired executive who owned an office supply company in West Los Angeles. He lives in Costa Mesa with his wife, Yolanda.

Carl Westerlund, one of Calvary’s pastors, said that ushers such as White fill a special niche.

“There are ushers all over doing this kind of thing,” Westerlund said. “People don’t realize the kind of sacrifice they do to do this.”

White has been ushering for 14 years on a weekly basis, and he visits Calvary Chapel at least four times a week to help at various events.

“It’s my responsibility that all the events at Calvary are ushered,” he said. “I have assistant ushers and usually there is something going on at the chapel nearly every day.”

On Easter Sunday, White will get to the stadium by 3 a.m. There he will have flashlights available for ushers who don’t have any, and make sure the stadium’s huge lights are turned on.

On Thursday, White was in the middle of a chaotic scramble to get things organized in time. Several big rigs filled with sound equipment had to be unloaded, carpenters had to ready the stage and the logistics were amazingly complex.

“We had to tape off areas for guests, make sure people in wheelchairs had easy access and make arrangements for small shuttle carts to ferry in people who have trouble walking,” White said.

In addition to the ushers, Calvary has dozens of security personnel, including some off-duty police officers who are members of the congregation.

In years past, the annual event was held at Irvine Meadows and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. But Calvary’s outdoor celebrations, complete with several choirs, noted Christian singers and musicians, have been attracting larger audiences each year.

Nature played a dirty trick when rain forced cancellation of the services at the Pacific Amphitheatre last year.

“We had just gotten everything set up. I mean everything,” White said. “And then the rain started. We had worked so hard for so many days and that had to happen.”

They quickly packed things and moved the services to the chapel in Santa Ana, which accommodates only 5,000 people.

“We couldn’t fit them all. It was a shame,” he said.

Handling medical emergencies also are part of White’s responsibilities.

“We’ve had people have heart attacks during the services,” White said. “But usually it’s someone passing out and becoming unconscious.”

And then there are the unruly children.

White said every usher has a story or two about children playing tag or making loud noises during the services.

One of his ushers once had to contend with two boys playing and shouting during the service. They ignored the pleadings of the usher until, exasperated, he yelled to them: “You boys need to get Jesus in your life and be more quiet!”

With that, both boys sprinted up to the front of the line for communion.

“I remember one Sunday I went to the church for service,” White recalled. “One of the ushers came up to me and said, ‘We need some help.’ From that point on, I started ushering on a regular basis. . . . Big events such as Easter services usually go pretty well, but it will be exciting to see how [the Lord] does bless us on this one!”