Church to host Easter event

Children will be able to learn about the Easter story and enjoy an Easter egg hunt as part of "The Hunt for Jesus!" program that will be presented at Middletown First Church of God on Saturday, April 8, beginning at 11 a.m. Egg hunts for children up to fifth grade will begin at 1 p.m., and a light lunch will be available beforehand. All activities are free and open to the community.

According to congregation member Patty Kuharic, one of the event organizers, several interactive stations will illustrate Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Stations will begin at 11 a.m. and run continuously through 12:45 p.m.

One of the stations will depict "Jesus as the Good Shepherd," and it will include live animals, including sheep and lambs. At another station, themed "Jesus, the Bread of Life," children will bake miniature loaves of bread. They will be able to take the bread home with them at the conclusion of the program.

"Jesus, Our Rock" will be explored at another station, where there will be a small rock climbing wall in the fellowship hall. Children will also decorate rocks to take home.

For the "Jesus as the Light of the World" station, children will travel through a maze. "Someone will take them through in the dark and then we will give them miniature flashlights (to go through the maze again), and they can notice the difference between the dark and the light," explained Kuharic.

Another station depicting "Jesus as the Son of God" will feature Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in the church's submersion pool.

At the "Jesus as Savior" station, children will learn about sin, and they will be asked to write down one thing that they are sorry for on a small piece of paper and place it on a cross in the church sanctuary. The final station will be in the Sunday school room, where there will be angels and an empty tomb signifying that Jesus has risen.

"It takes about an hour to go through all the stations. Then there will be time for outdoor activities," Kuharic noted.

For the Easter egg hunt, children will be divided by age group. In preparation for the event, church volunteers are currently filling thousands of plastic Easter eggs with candy that children will be able to search for on the church property.

The event will be held rain or shine. Middletown First Church of God is located at 245 W. High St., Middletown. For more information, contact the church at 717-944-9608 or mdtcog@comcast.net or visit http://www.middletowncog.org or http://www.facebook.com/middletowncog.