The morning of Saturday, March 17, was a cool forty degrees and cloudy, but the clouds could not contain the blue sky. The sudden cold kept the activities indoors, but the warm interior of St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Church is always a great gathering ground. Pastor Enderle greeted and held the door open for all the children arriving for Easter for Kids. This annual event, which persisted through the COVID years, aimed to impart the story behind the Easter holiday. The kids gathered before a cardboard version of Jesus’s tomb with a row of gift bags set before it in the church basement. The event was scheduled to begin at nine o’clock, and Pastor Enderle promptly began the morning’s first activity at the appointed hour.
Each of the gift bags contained a small figure and an easter egg. Inside the easter egg was a section of the bible, each one progressing through the story, and the figures were relevant to each section. The Pastor told Jesus’s story from his arrival to Jerusalem to his resurrection and explained the relevance and importance of the figures, such as a donkey, praying hands, and a thornless crown, to the kids. They were quite involved in the story, answering Pastor’s questions and showing their own knowledge of Jesus’s life. Once the story had been told, the volunteers led the kids in song and dance before going to the next activities. Two youth volunteers helped the kids make foam flowerpots and shared their interpretation of John 11:25. The flowerpots were made of thin foam paper, and the kids outlined their hands to make the shape of flower stems. They also participated in a discussion activity. It was intended to have the kids understand sin, like being too mean to a sibling or stealing cookies, and forgiveness, as well as deepen their understanding of Jesus’s resurrection. One of the kids readily answered questions and referenced the Pastor’s presentation from earlier.
As the morning neared its end, the kids were given an interactive snack. They gathered around a table by the church’s kitchen and decorated graham crackers. Using icing and bits of hard candy, the kids decorated the crackers with a cross and could even build the tomb of Jesus using the others. What followed after was made possible by the church’s volunteers. Flexibility with their events is something Pastor Enderle has learned to keep in mind. As it was too cold and windy, the volunteers prepared the chapel for an easter egg hunt. They hid eggs throughout the pews and windowsills to the delight of the children. Some of them were surprised and amused by the eggs’ hiding places. They were able to keep some of the eggs they found and recycled the ones they couldn’t for the next egg hunt. The egg hunt was the final activity of the morning, and Pastor Enderle and the St. John’s volunteers made it an excellent start to the day.
