Oak Ridge Today

Grace Lutheran Church celebrates ‘Rising of the Son’ Easter Sunday

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Grace-Lutheran-Church-Outdoor-Cross

The outdoor cross at Grace Lutheran is draped for Easter Sunrise Services on Sunday, March 27, 2016. (Submitted photo)

 

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge invites you to join in a celebration of the “Rising of the Son” on Easter Sunday, March 27.

Services will be held at 7 a.m. (sunrise outside), at 8:30 a.m. (traditional service), 9:30 a.m. (contemporary service), and 11:15 a.m. (traditional service). The Men’s Group will provide breakfast after each of the 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 9:30 a.m. services.

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church is a part of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and it is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue.

Grace Lutheran Church is a Christian church dedicated to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in a diverse community by loving our neighbors as ourselves, developing vibrant ministries to meet current and emerging needs, and helping people know Jesus, a press release said. For more information, call (865) 483-3787 or visit the church on the Web at www.graceoakridge.org.

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Easter services at Grace Evangelical Lutheran include Sunrise Service, Breakfast

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Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church will provide four services on Easter Sunday, including a 7 a.m. Sunrise service, in addition to its regular services at 8:30, 9:30, and 11:15 a.m. The men of the church will provide breakfast following the first three services, a press release said.

Also, there will be a Good Friday service at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 3.

“Everyone is welcome,” the release said.

Easter is Sunday, April 5.

The church is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue in Oak Ridge. Call (865) 483-3787 for more information.

Central Baptist has Easter Resurrection Celebration, Egg Hunt on March 28

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Central Baptist Church will have its Easter Resurrection Celebration and Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 28, at 1:30 p.m. There will be carnival games, bouncy houses, an egg hunt, prizes, and snacks, a press release said. The children will be told the story of the resurrection.

The celebration and egg hunt are for children two and older.

Central Baptist Church is at 130 Providence Road in Oak Ridge. Call (865) 483-7495 for more information.

Spotlight: Hard hats required at ORUUC Easter sunrise service

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ORUUC Easter Sunrise Service

Submitted

Twenty-two members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church held a sunrise service on Easter morning at the site of their new building at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

While the building won’t be finished until this fall, members received permission from Hickory Construction to use the site for this special purpose, provided they each wore hard-hats. So, it was with a light spirit that the small group celebrated the in-breaking of a new light, of new life, and the resurrection of Jesus. [Read more…]

Woman, two children escape Easter morning grease fire

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An Oak Ridge woman and her two children escaped an Easter morning grease fire at this Wade Lane home. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 p.m.

An Oak Ridge woman and her two children safely escaped an Easter morning grease fire that started in a pan on a stove while she was preparing to fry chicken in a Wade Lane home.

But their home, one of four units in a two-story building, was likely destroyed, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

Still, resident Dee Crumm said she is just glad that she and her 13-year-old son Seth and 10-year-old daughter Shelby are okay.

“As long as the kids are okay, that’s what counts,” Crumm said. [Read more…]

Guest column—Happy 75th anniversary, Batman: I owe you

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Legends of the Knight

A movie poster for “Legends of the Knight,” which will be screened at the Historic Grove Theater on April 27 to benefit ADFAC.

On March 30, Batman turned 75. That same day, our church celebrated a 24th birthday and a 10-year anniversary of having moved into the Grove Theater. The irony of it hit me like a ton of bricks because many of the seeds that led me to become a minister were, strangely enough, planted throughout the pages of my childhood comic books.

Batman has had his share of ups and downs over the years. From the most campy television programming imaginable in the 60s, to witnessing Robin bludgeoned to death by the Joker in the 80s, to actually dying and being resurrected a few short years ago…I’ve managed to stay with the Dark Knight through his many twists and turns. At age 45, perhaps I should have outgrown it all, but I haven’t.

The truth is I owe my childhood heroes a pretty huge debt. They instilled in me at a very early age the belief that truth and justice were not just abstract forces in the world, but that they could be shared and experienced with enough effort and courage. At a time when it felt like the world was growing more cynical and afraid, I came to believe that honest people could really make a difference—that good really could win out in the end. The stories of my childhood were saturated with hope.

Moving through ministry for about two decades now, I almost always find that I arrive back where I started. I find that, fundamentally, hope is a life-blood running through the veins of healthy people. I find that fear, doubt, and cynicism are toxins that course through the bodies of the most unhealthy. I also discover that I am not immune to any of it. I experience these poisons too, times when I wonder if I shouldn’t just hang my hat and choose another profession in despair over our human condition. [Read more…]

Train rides resume in Oak Ridge

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Southern Appalachian Railway Museum

SARM offers spring colors, Easter dinner trains

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum, or SARM, kicks off its 2014 excursion train schedule in Oak Ridge with one-hour Spring Colors trips and an Easter Weekend dinner train for April.

The narrated one-hour Spring Colors train rides will depart at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, and Saturday, April 19. Ticket prices are $19 for adults and $15 for children three through 12. Popcorn, refreshments and railroad souvenirs will be available in the train’s commissary car. During the rides, a short narrative will describe the historic Manhattan Project and the historical significance of the railroad that served it. Reservations are suggested and can be made by calling the museum at (865) 241-2140. [Read more…]

Faith column: This ‘High Tech…Low Touch’ world of ours

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Occasionally while holding our grandson in my lap as he begins to drift off to sleep, he will look up into my face with all the inquisitiveness of any four-year-old. Slowly and gently, he will reach upward to touch my nose, lips, and eyebrows and with his tiny fingers begin to explore what to him must seem like a vast terrain of the unknown. My eyes follow his, and then unexpectedly I begin to experience the kind of bonding that develops when one gazes intently into the face of another. This small gesture of a child touched my soul in a way I didn’t anticipate, much different than, for instance, shaking someone’s hand, even of family and friends.

A book came out some 30 years ago called “Megatrends,” which predicted a major shift in the world, in one instance characteristically described as “high tech…low touch.” The more technologically advanced we are, the less is our interpersonal connectedness. We see evidence of this today in our relationships with one another, especially in the fracturing of the traditional family and the steady decline of meaningful interaction within households. This brings to mind how important it was for Jesus to gather his disciples around a table and be able to look into the faces of those whom he loved dearly. The next time we gather with family and friends around the table, take a moment to gaze into the faces of those around us. There is something magical and perhaps even mystical about what happens to us when we are intently focused on the face of another, especially when we remember it is one shaped in God’s own image.  [Read more…]

Faith column: Dimensions of the Resurrection

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Resurrection

On several occasions, I have stood beside empty tombs or graves. I have seen the incredulous, empty stares of shocked family members forced to bury a loved one. Many times the death has been untimely and seemingly unfair. It is hard to make sense of death. But its pain can be absorbed by the promise of resurrection. The apostle Paul reminds us that everything truly stands or falls on the resurrection.

This holiday (holy-day) comes around annually. It is never on the same Sunday, and sometimes I am amazed at either how early or how late it is for that particular calendar year. Teachers and students eagerly anticipate its appearance on the calendar for Spring Break. Though hardly ever on the same date, it comes around like clockwork. But its annual appearance is obscured by the fact that it falls in line with a host of regular holidays. We often know that it comes around spring time, and before Mother’s Day. [Read more…]

Faith column: Join the Easter Parade

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There are many things to say about the pageant of Easter. It is that second time of the year, along with Christmas, when many people come out to join in the celebration of a religious holiday. There will be enough written about that shallow approach to worship, so I won’t waste any more time addressing that myself.

What I want us to remember are two, true things that Easter represents: the triumphal entry and the death on a cross.

[Read more…]