10 Sandpoint Churches Unite For Easter Sunday

History will be made on Easter Sunday in Sandpoint as members of more than 10 churches gather to worship at 10:30 a.m. at Sandpoint High School. The event, the first of such magnitude in Sandpoint, is expected to draw more than 2,000 people.

It all started when the Rev. John Baker, worship pastor at First Baptist Church, arranged to have gospel singer Sonya Kaye of Seattle come to Sandpoint to give a concert. Realizing his church wasn’t big enough for such an event, Baker consulted his friend Tommy Cropper, the worship pastor at First Christian Church.

Cropper had just reserved the Sandpoint High School gym for Easter Sunday but was looking for a performer for the service. The two realized that if their churches joined together, they would have both a large venue and a performer.

“It took us a few minutes, but we’re slow,” laughs Baker.

The two took their idea to the weekly meeting of area pastors, who immediately endorsed the idea. The fact that members of the group had established working relationships and friendships allowed the idea to move forward, says Cropper.

“The primary reason that it has worked so well is those pastors,” says Cropper. “If that hadn’t been the case, this never would have happened.”

The goal in having a community service that brings together so many different churches is to show their unity as Christians and not focus on their differences. The participating pastors decided to put aside their doctrinal differences in order to make the event work, says Baker.

“If you major in the minors, you tend to argue,” he says. “We’ve had to think through a lot of those details. We’ve given up our right to be right in order to be right with each other.”

Cropper agrees that being united as Christians is one of their primary goals in putting on the service. “We believe it’s extremely important as a statement to the community to say we are Christians,” says Cropper. “The glory to God is the first priority. Christ asked us to have unity of spirit.”

In addition to the 10 churches sponsoring the event, members of other Sandpoint-area churches are expected to attend, as well as those from as far away as Spokane, Priest River, Idaho, and Sagle, Idaho, says Baker.

The service will also include a choir of singers from all sponsoring churches, and the pastor of each church will take part in the service.

Participating churches include First Christian Church, First Baptist Church, River of Life Fellowship, Sandpoint Christian Center, First Church of God, Church of the Nazarene, Evangelical Free Church, Church of God, Sandpoint Assembly of God and Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.

The following community Easter services are also being offered in the area:

Spokane

Life Center Foursquare Church will host its community Easter service at 11 a.m. in the Spokane Arena. The 90-minute service, “The Triumph of the Cross,” will feature music and a dramatic presentation.

Child care will be available for children up to 4 years old. Diamond Parking will offer free parking in Arena lots.

The Spokane Council of Ecumenical Ministries will host its annual sunrise Easter service, “Arise, Shine,” at 6:30 a.m. at the Lofty Cross of Inspiration at Greenwood Memorial Terrace, 211 N. Government Way. Featured speaker is the Rev. Rick Melin, an executive for Inland Northwest Presbytery.

The Audubon Park United Methodist Church youth group will perform a drama, and vocalists from the Refreshing Spring Church of God in Christ will perform.

Refreshments will be available before the 6 a.m. service.

Redeemer Lutheran Church is returning to the Spokane Opera House for its second Easter service at 10 a.m. There will be signing for the deaf, and child care will be available for children up to 3 years old. Diamond Parking will offer free parking in adjacent lots.

New Community Church will host a 10 a.m. Easter service, “The Resurrection: A Message for the Heart and Mind” at The Met. Child care will be available along with a free espresso bar.

A sunrise worship service hosted by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church begins at 6:30 a.m. at Saltese Cemetery in the Spokane Valley. The cemetery is one mile east of Sullivan Road on Saltese Road.

The Union Gospel Mission will host a sunrise Easter service at 7 a.m. in Harry Altmeyer Park next to the mission at 1224 E. Trent.

Refreshments will follow.

North Idaho

Christ the King Lutheran Church of Coeur d’Alene will once again host its annual community Easter services in the Boswell Auditorium on the North Idaho College campus. The services begin at 9 and 11 a.m.

Sacred Heart Church in the Old Mission State Park in Cataldo, Idaho, will be the site of an ecumenical Easter service at 7 a.m. Our Savior Lutheran Church in Pinehurst, Idaho, is sponsoring the service.

To reach the park, head east on I-90 from Coeur d’Alene and take Exit 39. The park is next to the freeway.