Guests participate Friday in the tour of the Easter Commemorative Experience within the Church, within the room depicting the garden of Gethsemane. Videos depicting various events of Holy Week were on display in many of the rooms.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is inviting the whole community to celebrate Holy Week with them, with a non-denominational Easter celebration on Saturday.
While many are familiar with Easter as a holiday, says Bruce Hill, communications director for the Church here in Medicine Hat, they are hoping to bring people together to celebrate the meaning surrounding the date.
“We are commemorating the events of Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday, which is this coming Sunday, and culminating in the following Sunday, which is Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” said Hill. “We feel like we’ve under-celebrated Easter, and we’re trying to help our community celebrate Easter in more ways than just easter eggs, though we do love family traditions like that as well.”
The event leads participants through a series of decorated rooms, each one a representation of a different event during Holy Week. Many of the rooms also feature a professionally shot video depicting the events.
“As we go from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, there’s events where Jesus went during the week, and we have made themes of those places and events with snippets of video showing what he did at those events and in those places,” said Hill.
The event is open to everyone, regardless of faith or denomination, and is completely free to attend. Hill says he believes people should feel more comfortable coming into churches they are not necessarily part of and be able to feel welcome attending events like this.
It is their hope to see people gathering to celebrate the occasion and the community, and be able to remember the events in the week to follow leading up to Easter Sunday.
The experience will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints at 7 Saamis Rotary Way SW.
