Easter celebrations hosted all over LA County; message of renewal resonates in fire zones

The message of rising anew was alive and well in and around the burn zones of January’s deadly wildfires on Sunday, April 20, as Christians celebrated the holiest day of their calendar, Easter.

Related: At Easter, a message of renewal hits home among fire-weary faithful 

During the season of rebirth, clerics  geared their sermons toward picking up the pieces. The faithful reflected on faith amid the record-shattering loss of the Eaton and Palisades fires.

For many, displacement brought by the fire meant the loss of traditions. But one church was determined not to let one tradition go, not even this year.

Community United Methodist Church posted its Easter Flower Cross at the destroyed church site in the Palisades.

“Our hope is that the cross will be out on Easter Morning and that people can stop by to add flowers,”  according to the church.

And sure enough, it was.

Related: Faithful celebrating Easter, Passover find connection in stories and traditions

In the months since the fire, Pastor John Shaver has been working with a relief group the church formed to support their community, spiritually and materially and worshipping first on Zoom and then at other congregations, backyards of members and even a restaurant in Sawtelle.

Shaver has been working through his family’s loss of their home as well as the loss of the church, as he splits his time between Venice to be near the church and much of the now somewhat diasporic congregation and Thousand Oaks with his in-laws.

“As I look at the Bible, and I see that God has so many metaphors and symbols for parts of life… I try to look at things in a way that’s going to be somewhat therapeutic or helpful, so I have tried to stay away from the imagery of fire or flames,” Shaver told the Southern California News Group last week.

Sunday represented a moment of renewal for his church and many other communities across the region.

At Westminster Presbyterian Church on Lake Avenue, in Pasadena, not for from the destruction, rising from despair resonated as a theme among the faithful.

Altadena Rising set the tone for the Rev. Tom Eggebeen, interim pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

After the fires, three congregations have called its campus home, including LIFT International Church (Living In Faith Together) and Altadena Community Church members.

Eggebeen good-naturedly says Westminster can seem like Grand Central Station at times.

The three churches celebrated Easter there on Sunday, using its three chapels. There was worship, of course, but after LIFT was having an egg hunt, with Bible characters, giant bubbles and games.

As Eggebeen told the Southern California News Group last week about recovery from the disaster, “there is no promise of a quick fix or ‘all will be well next week.’ It’s going to be a long, long road, but together, we can do it.”

As he readied for Easter services at Sherman Oaks Lutheran Church, Rev. Titus Utecht said, “Easter means new life for you. Jesus rising from the dead isn’t just another motivational come-back story. Through faith, we as Christians are connected to Jesus such that his resurrection becomes our resurrection. We have a new life in him.”

He added: “Easter Sunday gets a lot of attention and visitors because it is so cheery and triumphant. But Jesus’ dying on the cross for us on Good Friday is just as important. Easter shows us God’s power and gives hope. Good Friday shows us how great is God’s love for us—that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

On the coast, the Long Beach Rescue Mission brought together people of all backgrounds to celebrate with a sunrise service and breakfast.

The mission previously held a community event where 750 children from the neighborhood received Easter baskets, said Jeff Levine, executive director of the Long Beach Rescue Mission.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church celebrated a “Sunrise Mass on the Beach” on the sand at 11th Street, south of the Hermosa Beach Pier.

A sunrise service was held on the beach north of the Manhattan Beach Pier, conducted by the Manhattan Beach Community Church, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

The Easter Sunrise Service at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes began at 6 a.m.

The Midnight Mission planned its annual Easter Celebration and Street Fair after shifting its celebration indoors in 2024.

Nearly 2,000 homeless and near-homeless individuals and families were served a traditional Easter meal and receive hygiene items.

The Midnight Mission expected to serve 2,500 pounds of barbecue chicken, 1,000 pounds of honey glazed spiral ham, 1,000 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes and 700 pounds of seasonal vegetables topped by 45 gallons of gravy, according to Georgia Berkovich, its chief communications officer.

Singer-songwriter Mark Mackay entertained for the ninth year, performing what he bills as “guitar-driven American music,” while the actor Mr. T, will “spread cheer and goodwill,” Berkovich said.

Indoor Easter sunrise services were staged at Forest Lawn memorial parks in Covina Hills, Glendale, Hollywood Hills and Long Beach and the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village.

Easter Sunday Mass, the Mass of the Resurrection of Our Lord, were scheduled at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in English at 10 a.m. by Monsignor Antonio Cacciapuoti, the cathedral’s pastor, and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m. by Archbishop José H. Gomez.

The Masses were scheduled to be livestreamed on www.facebook.com/lacatholics and youtube.com/olacathedral and broadcast on digital Channel 7.2, Channels 703 and 1246 on Spectrum cable, Channel 467 on Frontier cable, Channel 1133 on Cox Cable and Channel 520 on Mediacom.

During the Mass, after renewing their baptismal promises, all faithful receive a blessing with Easter holy water as a reminder that, in and through Christ, they have died and been born again through the waters of baptism.

The feast of the Resurrection of Christ is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. Christians believe that by rising from the dead, Jesus demonstrated his power over sin and death, manifesting his divinity as the Son of God.

According to the Christian Scriptures, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who offered his life for the sins of the world as was prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures.

“On Easter Sunday, we celebrate his glorious resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, he is risen,” President Donald Trump said in his Easter message.

“Through the pain and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we saw God’s boundless love and devotion to all humanity, and in that moment of his resurrection, history was forever changed with the promise of everlasting life.”

Staff writers Sierra Van Der Brug, Anissa Rivera, Michael Hixon, Christina Merino and City News Service contributed to this report