Easter traditions still strong in Gloucester

WHILE each church in Gloucester gathered over the Easter weekend, they came together to observe Easter Sunday in a combined 6am service at Kia Ora lookout.

This year Gloucester Baptist Church was rostered to organise the service while the Uniting Church provided tea, toast and a warm fire.

Members from the Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican and Seventh Day Adventist churches contributed to the service.

The congregation included members from the Church on the Hill, the Catholic Church and the Faith Family.

Pastor Ty Soupidis, wife Sarah and son Xavier, from the Church on the Hill, lead the congregation in song.

Sue Thomas from the Uniting Church told NOTA, “It was very pleasing to see so many young people attending the service this year.

“There were more than usual.”

The enduring significance of Easter

Easter is the most holy of the Christian festivals.

It is the time Christians reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The term Easter/Ostern is used in English and German to name the festival that celebrates Jesus’ Resurrection, but its origins are not without controversy.

Most scholars have agreed that the term embodies an expression of the east, dawn and light.

Most other Christian nations derive their term from Pascha, the Latin term for the Jewish Passover.

Easter is a moveable feast commemorated on the first Sunday following the full moon of the Equinox.

The astronomical calculation fixes the date globally so that in the northern hemisphere Easter is fixed after the Spring Equinox while in the southern hemisphere it is fixed following the Autumn Equinox.

The date for Easter Sunday can occur on any date between 22 March and 20 April.

This system of determining the Resurrection goes back to 325CE.

The Catholic Church uses the Gregorian Calendar.

This means it is thirteen days ahead of the Orthodox Church which uses the Julian calendar to establish the date for Pascha.

Hence Orthodox Christians will celebrate Pascha on 12 April 2026.

Last year the dates aligned and they will do so again in 2028.

Easter in the northern hemisphere coincides with the Spring Equinox which pagans celebrate with fertility symbols like eggs, chickens, hares and rabbits.

When missionaries sought converts, they drew parallels between pagan beliefs around new life and Christ’s resurrection.

Eggs represented the tomb which cracked open with a new life, so pagan symbols joined the symbol of the Christian cross that now adorns hot cross buns.

The lamb sacrificed at Passover became a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

Many cultures celebrate Easter in unique ways but in the 19^th century French and German chocolatiers recognised that chocolate Easter eggs would have universal appeal even for those who aren’t practicing Christians.

Cadbury alone produces over 450 million Easter eggs annually for Australia and New Zealand.

Orthodox Good Friday will be on 10 April this year, so Easter treats are still on the menu.

By Marilyn SANDERSON