Under overcast skies, parents and children settled on the grass Sunday morning as an Easter hymn from a brass quintet rippled through the amphitheater in downtown Little Rock.
The crowd attended in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, gathering at the First Security Amphitheatre on the bank of the Arkansas River for the 29th annual Community Easter Sunrise Service.
The service, organized by the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, featured readings of scripture, hymns and performances by community choirs.
"It's unbelievable how much they cover in one hour," said 69-year-old Pauline Blackburn, looking over the amphitheater as she waited for the service to begin Sunday morning.
Addressing the crowd, the Rev. Britt Skarda of Pulaski Heights United Methodist said he has embraced a message of understanding and common ground as the world has become increasingly isolationist and intolerant of people who are different.
"Easter is the message that God has rolled away the stone that separates humanity from God and neighbor from neighbor," he said.
Donations from the service went to El Zocalo Immigrant Resource Center, a nonprofit that works to promote a dignified life for immigrants in Arkansas, nonprofit Director Kelsey Lam said as she addressed the crowd Sunday.
"This mission not only affirms all of our shared humanity, but affirms the utmost strength of the human spirit," she said, adding that the nonprofit serves families who often face hunger and other struggles in Little Rock.
Skarda preached that there is joy in the world even though death has seemed to dominate recent headlines.
He mentioned the bombing of two churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday that left dozens dead as well as a fatal shooting at a San Bernardino, Calif., elementary school last week that authorities described as a murder-suicide, according to media reports.
Skarda also spoke against Arkansas' recent efforts to carry out eight executions over a two-week period, a process that has garnered national and international attention.
Court rulings had already pared the number of executions down to six before a Pulaski County circuit judge blocked the executions on Friday and a federal judge issued an order Saturday that also blocked the scheduled executions. Legal challenges are ongoing in both cases.
Furonda Brasfield, executive director of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, led a prayer at the service Sunday, praying for leaders to choose peace even when it might not be a popular decision.
"Father, please let the Golden Rule be the gold standard, where we only do to others what we would have them do to us," she said. "Direct our focus on our similarities and let us use our diversities to make your world a better place."
Manuel Hernandez said he and his family has attended the morning service for more than a decade and recalled the challenges of waking his children for the early morning event when they were younger.
As Lupida Hernandez, Manuel Hernandez's wife, walked away from the service Sunday, she said she felt like crying when the choirs belted out the "Hallelujah" chorus from George Frideric Handel's Messiah to end the service.
"It's a sense of community," she said.
Metro on 04/17/2017