Gathering around a former church member’s grave in Lomenick Cemetery makes the experience of an Easter sunrise service more real, said Dr. J. David Tabor, senior minister of Jones Memorial United Methodist Church.
Last year and again tomorrow, some 60 to 75 people will congregate around the late Doris Weir’s grave in the East Ridge cemetery to celebrate the new life Christians proclaim in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The sunrise service is one of dozens in the area held by churches of various denominations but one of only a few held in cemeteries.
“It’s a worshiping experience of the (people) still living in Christ,” said Dr. Tabor. “It’s the miracle of that moment (for the living and the knowledge of the resurrection of the dead) together in Christ.
The congregation has held sunrise services in the cemetery – though not always at a specific member’s grave – since the church was organized nearly 80 years ago, he said.