Variety of Easter Sunrise Services Will Be Offered Around the County

Going to church on Easter can be a little different if it’s at an outdoor sunrise service.

“I’ll have my overcoat on,” said Jack Huyler, who will deliver the sunrise sermon at Ojai’s Thacher High School. The school has welcomed the community to its 6:30 a.m. service at the campus’ outdoor chapel since World War II.

And it will be business as usual for Huyler to compete with the occasional animal sounds. “Here, of course, you can always hear the horses.”

In fact, he said, churchgoers at the Thacher service are welcome to bring dogs “if they can sit still and generally behave.”

Jane McCarthy of Ojai said that is part of what makes a sunrise service special.

“You’re communing with nature and God.”

She has lost count of how many sunrise services she has attended at Thacher’s outdoor chapel. What draws her out so early in the morning, she said, is the spectacular view of the Ojai Valley, extending to the coastal mountains and Piedra Blanca. “And you have the orange blossoms and that crisp air too.”

Huyler likes sunrise services in part because “it’s nice to know you’re part of something bigger than the local. All throughout the Christian world, people are doing the same thing--going to sunrise services, but grumbling a little bit at first because it’s early and chilly. They’re doing it in Korea. In Connecticut.”

And this year, they are doing it at Lake Casitas.

“I may have to preach in my slicker,” said Pastor Paul Bergmann, whose Ojai Valley Community Church is holding its first sunrise service, at a spot overlooking the lake and a dock.

“If it rains, we may have to unplug the electric guitar too,” Bergmann said. “But we’re going into this with an attitude: We go, whether we get rain, five or 500 people.”

Appropriate finery at the 6:30 a.m. Lake Casitas service will be everything from hip waders to hiking boots, earmuffs to stocking caps.

“We’re hoping some early fishers will tie up at the dock,” Bergmann said. “And maybe some campers will join us too. The dress code is warm.”

Under the oak trees in Kenny Grove Park’s amphitheater in Fillmore, nine pastors will strive to be heard above the chatter of birds. Organized by Gary Pokorney of the Fillmore Bible Church, the 6:30 a.m. service will be multidenominational. “Come as you are, and a warm blanket is fine,” Pokorney said.

The idea of holding such early morning Easter services arose, he said, because “that’s when the two Marys came to the tomb and found that Jesus had risen. So we’re trying to capture the historical scenario.”

Easter services around the county include:

* St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Oxnard will begin Easter Sunday at 6 a.m. on the patio. A short service will precede the traditional “first entrance” into the sanctuary.

After the sunrise service, a pancake breakfast will be offered in Fellowship Hall at $5 per ticket at the door from 7 to 9:30 a.m.

A 10 a.m. celebration will feature brass music and anthems by the chancel choir.

Spanish-language church school will begin at noon, with a service at 2 p.m. The Japanese-language services will join with the English services on Sunday.

An Easter egg hunt on the grounds for youngsters is expected to begin at 11:30 a.m.

St. Paul’s is at 1800 South C St. For more information, call 487-2711.

* The Lake Casitas service is open to all, said Bergmann of the Ojai Valley Community Church.

“Dress warmly and bring chairs or blankets,” Bergmann said of the 6:30 a.m. service. Coffee and doughnuts will be available, he said. Music and a message from Bergmann, a former NFL football player, are scheduled.

Drive to the front gate of Lake Casitas Recreation Area, at 11311 Santa Ana Road, and ask for directions. Entrance to the lake will be free.

For more information, call the church at 646-4324.

* The community is invited to Thacher School’s Easter sunrise service at its outdoor chapel in Ojai at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Huyler, a former Thacher English teacher, will deliver the message. Members of the Thacher community will offer readings and music.

After the service, the community will be offered hot cross buns, juice and coffee at the pergola. In case of rain, the service will be moved to the indoor chapel.

The school is at 5025 Thacher School Road in Ojai. For more information, call 646-4377.

* Along with eight other Fillmore churches, Bardsdale United Methodist Church invites the public to a day of old-fashioned Easter celebrations.

A multidenominational sunrise service in Kenny Grove Park, led by Pokorney, will greet the day at 6:30 a.m., followed by breakfast at the nearby Bardsdale United Methodist Church, beginning at 8 a.m. The traditional decorating of the bare Easter cross with flowers will follow.

At 9:15 a.m., an Easter egg hunt and games for children will be held on the church grounds. A celebration worship service will be held at 10 a.m.

Reservations for breakfast are encouraged. A donation will be accepted for the meal, with proceeds benefiting the church’s hand bell choir.

Kenny Grove park is at 823 Oak Ave. Bardsdale United Methodist is at 1498 Bardsdale Ave. For breakfast reservations, call 524-2070.

* An informal Easter sunrise service at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks will begin at 6:30 a.m., said Pastor Larry Wagner. “The Lights Are On But Nobody’s Home” will be his topic.

Traditional 8:30 and 9:45 a.m. services will feature Easter music and a brass ensemble. A less liturgical, contemporary service led by the musical group Company will be held at 11 a.m.

Nursery care will be provided at all services, and handicapped access is available.

The church is at 1600 E. Hillcrest Drive. For more information, call 495-0406.

* Libbey Park Bowl in downtown Ojai will be the site of a 10 a.m. service by the Church of the Living Christ. “The whole community is invited,” said Beverly Tapp of the church. “We do this ‘Church in the Park’ service every year so that if people don’t have another church to go to, they can come to Libbey Park.”

An Egg hunt for children is scheduled immediately after the service.

For more information, call the church at 646-1296.

* Easter services are scheduled at Agoura’s Church of the Epiphany at 7, 9 and 11 a.m., according to Vicar Hank Mitchel.

The church is at 5450 Churchwood Drive. For more information, call (818) 991-4797.

* Easter Masses in English and Spanish will be celebrated at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Oxnard. English Masses are set for 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m. Spanish Masses will be at noon and 1:30 p.m.

In addition, a bilingual Easter vigil service is set for 7:30 p.m. today.

St. Anthony’s is at 2511 South C St. For more information, call 486-7301.

* An 8 a.m. continental breakfast will kick off Easter services at Ventura’s First Lutheran Church. At 9 a.m., a Sunday school Easter egg hunt will be held outside.

The special Easter worship service with holy communion begins at 10:30 a.m.

First Lutheran is at 78 Chrisman Ave. For more information, call the church at 643-5586.

* Oxnard’s Channel Islands Vineyard Christian Fellowship will hold a free Easter morning breakfast and Easter egg hunt at Oxnard State Beach. The breakfast begins at 8:30, followed by the egg hunt at 9. At 10 a.m., a musical drama will portray the events from the day after Christ’s crucifixion to the resurrection, youth director Barbara Rush said.

The public is welcome. There is a 50 cent charge for parking at the beach lot. For more information, call Rush at 485-0050.

* The Unity Center of Thousand Oaks will hold its first Sunday service Easter morning at the Holiday Inn.

The Rev. Irma Oestmann’s message will be “The Resurrecting Christ.”

Area musicians and soloists will perform, and congregants will receive fresh Easter flowers.

The Easter service will begin at 10 a.m. at the hotel, 495 N. Ventu Park Road. For more information, call 496-6901.

* An original musical play by Anjanette McKissick of the First Christian Church of Simi Valley will be performed at the church’s Easter service beginning at 10:30 a.m.

“The Promise of Easter” will feature the church’s youth groups singing, dancing and narrating the dramatization, which will follow Pastor E. Gean Davis’ sermon.

The church is at 4307 Walnut St. For more information, call 526-6434.