Carrying the cross she made, Rev. Julia Winward walks from the Cornwall United Methodist Church to Ring’s Pond.
Re-enactors carry a cross on Good Friday. Pastor Winward carried hers to the Sunrise Service on Easter morning. She had made it with her family on the previous day.
Rev. Julia Winward is the pastor of the Cornwall United Methodist Church. It was her turn to preach at Ring’s Pond on Sunday at 6:30 a.m.
She did more than prepare a message. On Saturday, when some youngsters were searching for Easter eggs, her kids went into the woods to find branches. They came back with two hefty ones that their mother fashioned into a cross.
She covered the limbs with flowers to make them festive. And then eased the cross into a base so it would stand upright, and be roughly six feet high.
The problem was getting it from the rectory to the Town Park across the street. The cross wouldn’t conveniently fit in a car. And if the branches rested on something, the flowers might come off. So, like Christ of old, the pastor placed the cross on her shoulder and carried it to where the outdoor service would be held.
In spite of the chore, the early hour and the cold, she was exuberant when she began her message. “Can anyone not have a heart full of Easter!” she shouted to the worshipers who were gathered in front of her. She stepped closer to the crowd so everyone could hear, and she held an iPad that contained her notes. She glanced at it on only a few occasions.
At one point, she referred to the gospel text, where an angel addressed the women at the empty tomb. “Go quickly and tell his disciples,” the angel said. “He has risen from the dead, and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.”
Pastor Winward emphasized that Jesus met his disciples where they lived; they didn’t have to go into a temple or a sanctuary to find him. She urged people to reclaim the Easter victory for themselves, their church and their community.
Then, she alluded to the community at the end of the service. After the traditional sending (“Christ is risen; he is risen indeed)”, she encouraged people to eat lots of pancakes – an apparent plug for the fire companies that were offering Easter breakfast.
Rev. Patricia Calahan of the Cornwall Presbyterian Church, conducted the liturgy. It will be her turn to preach next year. Linda Parrette and Richie Miles accompanied the hymns on their guitars. They’ve been doing that since about 1990.
