Eggs-amining Easter
Traditional event adapted to feature educational component, reach more

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Whether it was cuddly baby bunny rabbits or crafty creations of caterpillars and butterflies, the themes of creation and birth were prevalent in a Good Friday activity that underwent its own metamorphosis this Easter season.

“We are trying to teach the theme of new life,” said First Church of God Children’s Pastor Heather Coppel during the annual Easter Eggstravaganza at the church. It was based on II Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

“Jesus died on the cross and was born again. Easter and spring are when new life happens,” Pastor Coppel said.

So instead of having a traditional Easter egg hunt as it did in the past two years, the church and its partner organization Noah’s Ark Daycare switched their focus to a more learningbased experience. During the event, children could interact with rabbits, color eggs, decorate cookies and assemble crafts as they wandered from room to room collecting their six allotted eggs from volunteers clad in biblical garb.

“It’s not about candy, it’s about something else,” Haley Wilson, 7, of West Mansfield said. “It’s the day when God Jesus rose.”

“The meaning of what Easter really is when Jesus rose from the dead,” 10-year-old Pyron Fyffe said.

Haley’s mother, Elaine Wilson said she enjoyed a puppet show that framed the lessons during the non-traditional egg hunt.

“The puppet show was really nice because it told about candy and let the kids know that’s not what Easter is about,” she said. “That way it’s not so commercialized.”

But the new format also prevented some children, who may not have the eye or quickness for the typical snatch-and-grab free-for-all egg hunt, from going home empty-handed, Pastor Coppel said.

“We wanted to reinvent the Easter egg hunt and give them a chance to learn the Gospel,” she said. “This allows everyone to have fun and not feel overcome. We just felt some kids didn’t get a fair chance to get eggs.”

The event, which attracted 158 registered youths in its third year, has grown from a small egg hunt to a large Good Friday event for children who are out of school for spring break, Noah’s Ark Director April Woodrum said.

“Last year we had such an overwhelming number of people we decided we needed to make some changes,” she said.

While the event was largely attended by church members, several people came from the general public to offer their children an activity on their day off.

"We came last year because my son (Bryce) has friends that go to the church,” said Tricia Ray of Bellefontaine. “It was nice because a lot of kids have no idea what Easter’s about, especially if they don’t go to church.”

For others it was just about having fun.

“We walked in and got our cards punched and then we came here to play,” Kasey Middaugh, 8, said as he and Daniel Miller, 6, played basketball and other games in the gymnasium.

“This just gives the community more opportunity to be in the church so we can love on them and share the true meaning of Easter,” Pastor Coppel said.

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