St. John Lutheran Church hosts Easter-themed event
MARS — Members of St. John Lutheran Church in Mars are following their successful Christmas outreach program with an Easter follow-up adventure.
“The Great Surprise: Jesus is Alive” family event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 8 in the basement of the church at 420 Beaver St.
Denise Hager of Mars, the church council president, said the event will feature seven stations for children and their parents to visit.
Hager said the stations with names such as Confounding Creation, Extraordinary Energy and Marvelous Mirascope, all contain elements of surprise, a reminder of Jesus' resurrection.
There is a station with snacks that contain unexpected flavors and a photo station where families can have pictures taken of themselves, complete with provided props.
“It's open to the public. The seven stations are for families to visit to discover Jesus is alive,” said Hager, who said the success of St. John's “Night in Bethlehem” event in December encouraged the church to stage an Easter event.
For the Christmas event, Hager said, “We ended up with 79 kids and 50 adults.”
“Night in Bethlehem” replicated village scenes on the night of Christ's birth in the church's basement.
Our Christmas program was very successful and we are hoping the Easter program will be as well,” she said.
“It's community outreach. One family came in with a little girl that had never been in a church before,” said Hager. “They did come back on Christmas Eve.”
The Rev. Bob Zimmerman, pastor at St. John, said, “I hope that we would keep doing this. It's a way to reach out to the community and share Christ with our neighbors.”
Hager said while “The Great Surprise” is open to everyone, she hopes potential visitors will register with the church office beforehand.
Hager said the “Great Surprise” is being staged by 20 volunteer members of the church, many veterans of the Christmas event.
The props and equipment are supplied in a kit from Group Publishing, she said, which also supplied the props for the Christmas event.
Zimmerman said that as part of the 150-member congregation's outreach effort, the church will begin St. John's Kids Club starting Friday.
Running from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., the club will have stories, crafts and music for children ages 3 to 10. It's open to anyone, he added.
WHAT: “The Great Surprise: Jesus is Alive”WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 8WHERE: St. John Lutheran Church, 420 Beaver St., MarsINFORMATION: Register at office@stjohnchurchmars.org or call the church office at 724-625-1830
