Polk County celebrating Holy Week

The Latest Local News from the Cedartown Standard

The most sacred week of the year for Christians – Holy Week – has arrived for 2015. Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday and includes events such as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It is the week when Christians remember and celebrate what Jesus went through and accomplished during His final week on Earth.

Followers of Jesus Christ all around the world will spend this week attending special services, and Christians in Polk County will have no shortage of options this year when it comes to finding a local Church to worship at. Churches from various denominations are holding special services on multiple days. From sun rise services, to a night time flash light Easter egg hunt, young and old alike will be able to make plenty of memories in the coming days.

“It’s important to have these services just to help us remember the historical events that Christ has done for us,” said Lime Branch Baptist Church Pastor Brian Crisp.

Roger Kiser, Pastor of Pine Bower Baptist Church, said that the world may look at these events as sad days, but to Christians they are worth celebrating because of what Christ was accomplishing.

“We celebrate the whole weekend,” said Kiser. “People look at Good Friday like it should be a day of mourning, because that is when Christ was crucified. It looks dim to them. But it is not dim to us Christians because we know what Christ did on the cross for us. It looks like He was just placed in a tomb later that day. But the Scriptures tells us He was placed in a borrowed tomb, because He would only need it for three days, because He was rising again. So this weekend is a time when we celebrate victory. We gather to worship Christ and to let the world know that we are celebrating something.”

St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church, located at 101 South College St. in Cedartown may have just the most worship opportunities of any Polk County church this year. St. Bernadette’s will be hosting a special service on Thursday for Holy Thursday. On Friday, April 3, Good Friday services will be held throughout the day. Worshipers will also have the chance to attend Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday as well as the Easter services on Sunday. St. Bernadette’s will be offering some services in english, some in spanish, and a couple bilingual services.

In Rockmart and Aragon, the public will have a chance to attend services throughout the week. Luncheons were already held on Monday and Tuesday, and three more luncheons will be offered this week. On Wednesday, Rockmart Presbyterian Church will host the special one hour event with James Hannah speaking. On Thursday, Rev. Maryellen Hittle will speak at First Zion Baptist Church and on Friday, Ruby Griffith, will speak at First Baptist Church. The luncheons are from noon until 1 p.m. each day.

At least a trio of United Methodist churches will have Maundy Thursday events. Anna Kresge United Methodist Church, located at 15 Booger Hollow Rd., Cedartown, will have a Maundy Thursday gathering at 7 p.m. Rockmart First United Methodist Church, 135 W. Church St., will be hosting a special Maundy Thursday service at 6 p.m. First United Methodist Church in Cedartown will be having their Maundy Thursday event at 7 p.m. in the sanctuary.

On Good Friday, several churches will be having services throughout the day. Victory Baptist Church in Rockmart will start their Good Friday services at 9 a.m., while Pine Bower Baptist Church and Lime Branch Baptist Church will have a special service together at 6:30 p.m. at 100 Pine Bower Rd. Crossview Community Church, 510 N. Piedmont Ave., Rockmart, will use Good Friday as a time to have a night of worship. That will start at 7 p.m.

Churches will host Easter egg hunts on Saturday, before a lot of churches conduct sun rise services to start Easter morning this Sunday.

“We have a very good turnout at our sun rise services,” said Crisp. “That service is getting larger every year.”

Brad Easterwood, a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God Fellowship, noted how sun rise services are very special.

“To be outside on the morning of Resurrection Sunday and to see the sun rising and the day break while you are with a group of believers singing praises to a risen Savior, there is nothing quite like it,” said Easterwood. “It is such a joyful occasion that really resonates with the soul of a believer.”

Easterwood went on to encourage everyone to find a sun rise service to attend.

“Christians worship Jesus every day, all day,” said Easterwood. “But to be able to freely gather together on Resurrection Sunday and to worship with a group of like-minded believers and to hear an inspiring message from the minister, it is truly a special event. I would strongly encourage any Christian to attend at least one sun rise service in their life time.”

Crisp noted that one of his favorite parts of the weekend is seeing the excitement and happiness that followers of Jesus express on those special days.

“Just to see the people’s faces and the joy that they share together,” said Crisp.

In Aragon, community members can go to the Aragon First United Methodist Church, located at 101 New Prospect Rd., to experience a sun rise service. That service will take place at 7:30 a.m. on the front lawn of the church campus. In Rockmart, residents can enjoy a sun rise service at Bellview Baptist Church, 2333 N. Bellview Rd. That will start at 7:30 p.m. at the church. Southside Baptist Church in Cedartown will gather for a sun rise meeting at 7 a.m. Southside Baptist is located at 409 Cobb St.

“Churches are gathering together this weekend to celebrate victory,” said Kiser. “Jesus beat death.”

To read about more churches that are having special events this week, or to see more in-depth information about the church events already listed, please see our calendar on page 13A.

Source: Cedartown Standard

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