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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH GREETS THE SUNRISE THE MESSAGE OF EASTER
WPCNR SUNRISE. By John F. Bailey. Easter Sunday March 31, 2024:
I have missed it for two years. The Easter Sunrise Service at First Baptist Church.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, I used to play in an ensemble at the Flag Hill sunrise service which gave a magnificent view of the sunrise looking East. Our high school band group played “Christ is Today,” and a host of other hymns for the citizens who would troop up to the hill.
This morning about 40 persons appeared trudging in to the grounds of the church at 6 AM Easter Morning as the sun warmed up for its appearance with its glow of orange on the eastern horizon for its big day: Easter Sunday morning.
Rarely is the sun ever brighter on this morning of mornings. It is the Star. This morning the sun never missed a cue. In celebrating the literal and figurative return of the sun to the dawn as the halfmoon descended into the receding night, the sun dazzled its majesty casting hope across the land and the congregations of two churches combined to celebrate the day of hope.
I have broken up the segments of the service into 4 sections s that deliver first in English from Reverend Frank Fraley of First Baptist Church and Reverend Ever Magana speaking in Spanish
REVEREND FRANK FRALEY LEFT OPENS THE SUNRISE SERVICE THIS MORNING WITH REVEREND EVER MAGANA . IN THE SECOND VIDEO, THE TWO MINISTERS SPEAK ON THE MEANING OF THE SUNRISE (VIDEO BY WPCNR)
THE MEANING OF EASTER (VIDEO BY WPCNR)
The Daffodils had their moment in the sun, stretching out in full Easter Glory, they once again show their doughty grit enduring the coldest wettest windiest March I have seen, maybe not statistically, but the plants once again are coming back strong. Toughest plants in town.
This morning sunrise service was the first sunrise service at First Baptis for Reverend Fraley as Pastor of First Baptist Church since taking the pulpit last year.
It was also the First Sunrise Service and service for him at First Baptist for Reverend Magana who has participated in many sunrise services in New York City at the 102nd Street walkway which he told me gives a magnificent view of the sunrise looking East. It was the first official service for Reverend Magana, too at the church who starts his position as Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church tomorrow.
Reverend Fraley was ecstatic “to see the sun shining on so many happy faces this morning.”
REVEREND FRALEY WELCOMES HIS NEW ASSOCIATE PASTOR REVEREND EVER MAGANA