Preachers prepare for Easter crowds

Expecting crowds triple the size of the usual congregation for Easter Sunday service, Pastor John Huffman of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach devised a sermon that is sure to engage all worshipers.

Such was the task of several local pastors as they developed today's orations.

"My topic is what Starbucks, Harry, Wilberforce, Easter, Jesus and the Church all have in common," Huffman said. "People will have to come to find out who Harry is."

Rev. George Crisp, who will lead a sunrise service as well as traditional services at Christ Church by the Sea United Methodist, agreed that you "have to be a little more polished" in giving your message on Easter, though he never makes note of the increased turnout the celebration brings.

"Some pastors make jokes about Christmas and Easter Christians, but I'm just happy to have all folks here," he said.

Nearby at Liberty Baptist Church, Assistant Pastor Eric Johnson imagined there was a little pressure on Pastor Dwight Tomlinson to find a subject that meets the heavy demand of the most important religious feast of the Christian liturgical year. Tomlinson decided to discuss seven evidences for the resurrection.

"Every year about this time, someone comes out with a new discovery, a new book, a new code, a new movie, an old box of bones somewhere that's reported to prove Jesus didn't really rise from the dead," Johnson said. "He will be addressing that in his sermon."

Fairview Community Church's recently installed Rev. Sarah Halverson expected today to be "pretty big" and will tell the story of the resurrection from the perspective of Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the empty tomb.

As a progressive minister, she said Easter presents a challenge.

"We try to make sense of what the resurrection really means to us today, and it is difficult because we live in a very scientific world that has a very hard time believing in an empty tomb and that Jesus was raised from the dead," Halverson said.

Drawing on the experiences of some of his friends who were recently sworn in as U.S. citizens, Senior Pastor Bill Gartner at Harbor Christian Fellowship will compare the meaning of eternal, heavenly citizenship with that of national citizenship.