Pastor Tim Mink gestured up toward the overcast skies, “Just remember the sun is shining above those clouds.”

He and the congregation of Holly Tree Bible Church did not allow that bit of overcast to dampen the spirit of Easter as they gathered to celebrate the resurrection at a sunrise service Sunday. 

On a small clearing among a stand of towering pines, nearly 100 worshippers gathered for a meaningful service Easter morning. Set adjacent to the cemetery and down a short path quieted by pine needles, the benches overlooked a small podium and a large cross adorned with a purple cloth.

The pine trees served to reinforce the concept that as fallible humans, people are drawn to the creator for strength and life. 

Fittingly, the music accompaniment that morning was the flowing tones of a harp.

Talented harpist Aleita Kowalchuk, in town visiting extended family, produced the beautiful music. It seemed to surround the gathering, and in a way, replace an enveloping sunshine.

In addition to a four verses of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” Kowalchuk also played her personal favorite – “In the Garden.”

“It was my grandmother’s and my great-grandmother’s favorite hymn,” she explained. “And it has become mine.” 

Kowalchuk, of Alberta, Canada has been in town visiting her sister, Kendalyn, and her family in Big Sandy.

Following passages from Psalms and Acts, Pastor Mink read the story of the first Easter morning from the book of Luke.

Following the event, he smiled when asked to comment on the meaning of the sunrise service. He opined that the power of the Luke’s account comes when Jesus reappears to the women on the road and says to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

The brief service was complete in 30 minutes, when the crowd retired to the church hall for an amazing breakfast buffet. The overcast sky remained, but held off a drizzle which seemed to wait until the crowd had entered the hall.

Among those in attendance was the Overby family of Big Sandy. Patriarch Chris explained that as a family they had spent the week reflecting on the meaning of Easter with their six children.

“It is,” Overby stated, “the most important day of the year.”

Over breakfast in the church hall, Pastor Mink and churchgoer Leeann Robinson of Hawkins recollected about attending sunrise services as children. It was apparent that the setting of those services long ago had given special meaning to them as young children.

Tom and Francine Evans of Horseshoe Bend near Winnsboro added that conducting a sunrise service is commendable as it highlights that only with the coming daylight was the tomb found to be empty.

“No one knew ‘til sunrise,” Tom remarked.

The sunrise service at Holly Tree Bible Church has attracted a loyal following. People time their visits to the area to attend, some from as far away as Albuquerque.

To the credit of Pastor Mink and his congregants, the simple service conducted in that grove of mature pines is a uniquely-fitting manner to celebrate the most treasured day of the Christian year.