For congregations of several local churches, Easter Sunday starts in time to see the sky change from gray to subtle hues of rose and into the blaze of a full-blooming sunrise.

These congregation members and community guests gather to participate in the Easter tradition of sunrise church services.

Rev. Mary Boyd of Coupeville’s United Methodist Church said the Easter traditions of sunrise services originated with the story of Jesus and his crucifixion and resurrection.

She said after Jesus was lain in the tomb, several women came to perform burial rites at dawn of the third day, but when they arrived he was no longer there.

Local churches will have sunrise services from places like Deception Pass to City Beach, cemetery lawns to church buildings.

“Ours is held at Sunnyside Cemetery,” Rev. Boyd said. “And there among the graves, we celebrate the fact of resurrection.”

Though the surroundings carry an air of sobriety, she said the mood of most sunrise services leans toward festive.

“We’re celebrating the resurrection and the good news,” Boyd said.

She said the service is casual. People usually come bundled for the early morning weather of Whidbey Island. During the service, a lay person gives a brief message and prayer, and usually the congregation will sing several songs. Afterwards, members return to the church for an Easter breakfast.

“Everybody is welcome,” she said.

The belief that Jesus raised from the dead is the reason Terry Krueger, who is an interim pastor for Christ The King Church in Coupeville, said people will get up on a cold spring morning.

“The mood really is one of great joy and expectation,” Krueger said. “It’s just a wonderful, wonderful thing.”

Krueger said it is faith in the resurrection that makes Christianity work.

“It goes beyond ourselves,” he said. “We don’t have to experience life alone.”

Krueger said it is the faith and experience of a living relationship that is the source of strength which allows people to do things outside their own strength, such as forgive.

“The birth of Christ is very important, but the resurrection of Christ is probably the most celebratory event,” he said.

Pastor David G. Lura of the First United Methodist Church in Oak Harbor said he has had Easter morning sunrise services for his church now for the past 18 years. The first three years he facilitated them with his own congregation, but for the past 15, he has joined with the the Kiwana’s ministerial services to provide a city-wide sunrise service at Oak Harbor’s City Beach Park.

Pastor Lura said sunrise services are a time to reflect on the thoughts and emotions surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and a celebration of renewed hope.