This is the second year for springtime religious holidays to be celebrated under COVID restrictions, and many events still look different.
The area’s two largest outdoor sunrise services, one at the Royal Gorge in Canon City and the other at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, both will be virtual once again.
The service from Royal Gorge Bridge & Park will be available online at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at facebook.com/RoyalGorgeBridge.
Cowboy Preacher Grant Adkisson, known for his ministry at major rodeos and Bible conferences, will deliver the message, “It’s Never Too Late.”
The 74th annual Red Rocks service will be posted online as a prerecorded video by 6 a.m. Sunday, a project of the Colorado Council of Churches.
The statewide, ecumenical and social justice organization represents 13 Christian denominations and 800 churches across Colorado. The Right Rev. Kimberly Lucas, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Colorado, will deliver the sermon.
The video will be available for watching on demand on the organization’s website, www.cochurches.org/easterlive, on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/cochurches and its YouTube channel.
Several community wide outdoor services will be held in Colorado Springs.
Broadmoor Community Church will present a service at 10 a.m. on the ballfield at the Myron Stratton Home, 555 Gold Pass Heights. Attendees are asked to bring chairs or blankets and wear masks and comfortable clothes.
First United Methodist Prairie Campus will host a drive-in Easter community service and egg hunt will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Banning Lewis Ranch Preparatory Academy parking lot. 9433 Vista Del Pico Blvd in the Banning Lewis Ranch neighborhood.
An outdoor egg hunt on the football field, photos with the Easter bunny and a petting zoo will follow. Pre-registration is required at www.fumcprairie.org. Masks are required for ages 4 and up. Children will have staggered start times to participate.
Wilson United Methodist Church will hold an outdoor Easter sunrise service at 6:30 a.m. at the Flying W Ranch.
In-person worship services also will be offered at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday at the Flying W Ranch, 3330 Chuckwagon Road. Those services also will be streamed line at http://www.wilsonumc.org/live. There also will be a free community egg hunt at the Flying W from 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. for children, who will be divided by age groups and need to bring their baskets.
The Salvation Army will have a community Easter egg hunt after the 10:45 a.m. Easter Sunday church service, in the backyard of the local headquarters at 908 Yuma St. The event is for children ages 12 and under, and they should bring their baskets.
Sunnyside Christian Church, 2025 N. Murray Blvd., will host an Easter egg hunt outdoors at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, with many activities.
The SoccerHaus Sports and Events Center, 4845 List Drive, is hosting a community egg hunt with face painting and the Easter bunny beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with reservations required by calling the Upper 90 Tavern, 434-1738. Children will be divided into sessions, with 2-3 year olds at 10 a.m., 4-5 year olds at 11 a.m., 6-8 year olds at noon and 9-10 year olds at 1 p.m.
An Easter egg hunt and photos with the Easter bunny will happen at 11 a.m. Saturday at 610 E Willamette Ave., the new home of Colorado Children’s Academy at Downtown.
Fort Carson will provide a drive-through Easter event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday on post, with holiday goodies, candy, eggs, balloon artists and the Easter bunny.
The Broadmoor’s annual chocolate Easter model, this year a 1940s fighter plane equipped with a bunny pilot and chocolate carrot missiles, is on display in the historic hotel’s West building.
The Broadmoor’s Executive Baking & Pastry Chef Adam Thomas and his team spent three weeks carving, sculpting, shaping and casting 126 pounds of dark chocolate, 2 pounds of colored cocoa butter and 6 pounds of modeling chocolate.
Many individual churches are doing outdoor services, others require reservations for indoor services with limited capacities.
Coming Sunday in The Gazette: what local pastors are saying: Easter and Passover messages of hope, salvation and the triumph of good over evil are needed now more than ever before.
This content was originally published here.
