Cory Miller taunts the audience in his role as Satan in ‘My Deliverer.’
A s fresh-scrubbed families in spring dresses and suits crowd into church today, pastors throughout San Luis Obispo County are readying their Easter A-game.
For those of the Christian faith, the holiday that marks the resurrection of Jesus is the spiritual equivalent of the Super Bowl, March Madness and the World Series, one of two days in the year when pastors are expected to hit a holy home run.
“It’s always a wonderful challenge at Christmas and Easter,” said the Rev. Jane Voigts, pastor of the United Methodist Church in San Luis Obispo, referring to the bigger-than- average crowds and high-pressure services that accompany those holidays.
Religious leaders must find a way to reach newcomers who rarely step inside a church, while appealing to regular churchgoers.
“I’ve always enjoyed that challenge—to see what would be relevant to someone who’s never been to church before,” Voigts said. “This may be their one chance to be in church, and to touch them with something about the Bible and this story is important.”
Central Coast pastors are trying a variety of strategies
this Easter to deliver the age-old message — from tailoring their sermons to their congregation’s lives to staging elaborate presentations aimed at grabbing audiences’ attention.
Precious opportunity
“Easter is the most powerful and compelling dramatic truth of the Christian church,” explained the Rev. Michael Garman, pastor at First Baptist Church in Paso Robles. “It’s the one Sunday…that people put the priority of church and religion on the calendar.”
According to the Rev. Tom Ferrell of Atascadero, that makes for a precious opportunity.
“People’s attention span is less and less. For me to stand up and speak for 30 minutes may not be the best way of reaching people who aren’t in church normally,” said Ferrell, senior pastor at Atascadero Bible Church.
Instead, the congregation is trying something more innovative.
For the second year, members of Atascadero Bible will present “My Deliverer,” a musical drama based on biblical accounts of the last week of Jesus’ life.
“It’s a very powerful means by which to communicate because it involves a lot of the senses. … You get to experience it in a real way,” said Ferrell, who will serve as narrator.
The church, which regularly draws 1,500 people on Sundays, expects as many as 3,000 to attend “My Deliverer.” Two presentations are scheduled for today.
At St. John’s Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande, the Rev. Randy Ouimette planned a full Holy Week calendar. First up: a living tableau of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” on Maundy Thursday. “We’ve been having 13 guys grow beards since Ash Wednesday,” he said. There was also to be a somber Good Friday service and, early this morning, the church’s traditional sunrise beach service.
“I just love that great energy (of Easter),” he said. “I don’t preach; I proclaim.”
And in Pismo Beach, the Rev. Ron Salsbury, senior pastor, planned to use imagery and testimonials from members of New Life Community Church of the Nazarene to preach on the theme, “Is There Power in the Cross?”
As with every service, Salsbury said, he’ll try to make the message relevant, the details concrete.
“I’m telling a story. I’m not just a talking head up there,” he explained.
Folks who attend each of the 2,300-member church’s five Easter services will come home with small wooden crosses—a physical reminder of the new life believers can find in Christ. Each cross bears a card that reads “Will You Serve Him?”
“The main thing I want to do is put the hope of Easter into where they’re really living in their life,” Salsbury said. “I’m also hoping to pique their interest in coming back.”
Promise of renewal
Many pastors, such as the Rev. Edward Holterhoff of Morro Bay and the Rev. Tim Theule of San Luis Obispo, are focusing this year on Easter’s promise of resurrection, hope and renewal.
“Easter … is meant to be a confidence booster,” said Holterhoff, who leads the congregation of St. Timothy’s Catholic Church. “It’s new life. It’s bouncing back.”
Theule, lead pastor at Grace Church, will look at “Resurrection Reverberations.”
“If we believe the resurrection of Jesus really happened, what does that mean?” he asked. “We’re going to be talking about how that enables a new communion with God, a new community with others and a new creation in this world.”
For Voigts and the congregation of San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church, Easter’s promise of renewal couldn’t be more relevant.
This morning, the church unveils its new sanctuary, seven years after an arson fire destroyed the original building. Voigts will gather with worshippers in the brand-new bell tower room at 4:30 a. m. to commemorate the time when an unknown person or people set the structure ablaze.
“I’m sure that there’ll be a lot of people in our congregation reliving the great sadness and shock of that day,” Voigts said. At the same time, she added, they’ll experience the joy of a new spiritual home.
Above all, Garman of Paso Robles’ First Baptist said, today’s services should convey the ultimate story of Easter: Christ was crucified, buried and raised from the dead.
“We as people all forget about the intensity of what took place,” he said. “That’s why we worship every week: to re-center our life and remind us just how significant the resurrection is.”
Ferrell agreed. “We have to get back to the
basics of Easter,” he said. “It’s not about the Easter Bunny. It’s not about pretty dresses on a Sunday morning and coming to church. It’s a really tough story, and it really happened.”
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View audio slideshow of 'My Deliverer'