A small group of worshipers joined Madison pastor Richard Pritchard to welcome the Easter sunrise at Wingra Park along the north shore of Lake Wingra. Pritchard, Pastor Emeritus of Heritage Congregational Church, started the tradition of sunrise services at Wingra in 1968, almost four decades ago.
Pritchard is now 93 years old. He’s missed a number of Easters over the years as he traveled on missionary journeys or filled a pulpit in other cities. But he thinks it’s a great place to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and he’s surprised that other churches haven’t caught on.
Jim Carpenter has been to Wingra almost every Easter morning since he attended that first service as a four year old with his family. Now he brings his own family, his wife Wanda and their four daughters. Often they are the only ones there and some Easter mornings it’s been both cold and wet.
Attendance was 18 on this below freezing morning. After Jim Carpenter read the Easter passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 20, two hymns were sung: "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "He Lives." Then pastor Pritchard launched into an extemporaneous sermon, asking his listeners to imagine a world without Jesus. "It would be a world without compassion," he said, like it was "until Christ came and showed us the love of God."
He observed how compassionate it was for Jesus to voluntarily endure crucifixion, the worst possible humiliation and most painful death, to atone for the sins of mankind. The corrupt society of the first century was overcome by the power of love. The powerful Roman Empire eventually decayed and the church triumphed, although he admitted that the church has had its ups and downs over the centuries.
Pritchard’s faith in God has frequently led him to speak out on community moral issues during his years as Madison pastor, from the Civil Rights struggles of the sixties to moral issues in later decades. He said that society is still threatened by Godless influences. "Today we are doing our level best to try and get rid of God from our schools and our government,and our country is paying the price," he said.
Referencing the last verse in the Old Testament book of Judges, Pritchard said the moral climate in the U.S. today is not that different from what it was then. "We’re doing what seems right in our own eyes and not what’s right in God’s eyes. If we did what God said there would be more peace on earth and good will towards men."
Pritchard’s social critique also included the religious community. "So many people are outside the church because of those who are in the church," he said, admitting that he himself had left the church for several years as a young man because of the hypocrisy that he saw. "We have a responsiblity that when other people see us they see Christ in us," he said. "When Christ becomes alive in us he transfigures us to be more like him," he concluded, quoting a verse from the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
After leading the singing of that verse, that starts out "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea," Pastor Pritchard served communion in the fresh morning air. By that time the sun had fought its way through the morning clouds and was starting to warm up the day. Out on Lake Wingra a lone goose sounded off from the Amen Corner.