First Baptist Church of Long Beach resurrected its much-anticipated, annual Easter festival this year after a brief hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, with its hosts focused on their mission of sharing the good news celebrated by Christians– the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Easter isn’t just bunnies and chocolate candy for the Christian,” says Rev. Matthew Gaddy, who serves as worship pastor at First Baptist Church. “Easter is a celebration of not only the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but…we celebrate through this week, Holy Week, that period between Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem until the time of His death, His burial and His resurrection. You can see this by all of the many different scriptures that we have up. The kids go around and find those scriptures, and they take them back to the table. They get a prize, but they also get the Word of God right there in front of them. They also get resurrection eggs which tell the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; so everything we do is centered on that message. It’s the central message that Christ is risen. He’s not dead. He’s alive and also alive in the hearts of people. We really love it.”
Apparently, so did the hundreds of youth who attended the Spring to Life Easter Festival held Sunday, March 24, at the Harper McCaughan Town Green. Nobody left empty-handed, either. Once kids completed the scripture-driven treasure hunt, they were rewarded with one of more than two hundred Easter basket giveaways, filled with goodies, at the event.
Ten-year-old Mason Ray was one of the happy recipients, as he unwrapped his Easter basket and inspected the contents, which included a sticker book, kite, Bible, chalk, crayons and a Bible.
“This is awesome,” Ray said, “and it’s not even Easter yet! I’m having a great time, and can’t wait to fly my kite, and, of course, read my new Bible!”
Live music, puppet shows, a variety of games, a prayer table and cake walk were all part of this year’s line-up.
The live, interactive animal displays and animal show put on by the non-profit group Freedom Ranch was also a hit. Kids and adults got hands-on experience with birds of prey such as hooting owls and falcons, which were also featured by their handlers during live demonstrations at the festival.
“There’s lots of fun and fellowship,” said Gaddy. “The great thing about this event is it brings our community together. This is what we desire to do -- bring people together. It’s our whole mission and purpose. We want to connect people to Jesus, and the best way we can do that is to connect people to each other.”
“This is one of the larger turnouts I’ve seen at our Easter festival,” Gaddy said. “A lot of times we run into rain, weather, things like that, but it’s been a really good turnout. We’re just glad as always to be out here making connections with more families.”
The Spring to Life Easter festival is just one of several free, family-friendly events the Long Beach church hosts each year. Other annual events hosted by First Baptist Church of Long Beach include the Night-in-Bethlehem experience during the Christmas season and the Trunk-or-Treat fall festival each October.
Gaddy says everyone is invited and welcomed with open arms at these events, regardless of faith, and community members are also encouraged to join the church each week at services held at its location on Cleveland Avenue in Long Beach.
