Full pews and high spirits for Easter weekend

For many Northwest Corner churches, this year’s Easter holiday was filled with highlights and signs of optimism for the parish communities.

Compared to recent years’ counts, 2016’s Easter weekend saw increases in the number of parishioners.

The Rev. Francis Fador, pastor at both St. Bernard’s Church in Sharon and St. Bridget’s Church in Cornwall Bridge, said that the Easter weekend had a “greater enthusiasm, greater spirit” and went “very, very well.”

An 8:30 a.m. Easter Sunday service at St. Bridget’s gathered 138 people and a 10:30 a.m.  service at St. Bernard’s numbered 110 people, Fador reported.

The Rev. Melinda Miko Keck, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Kent, estimated that nearly 100 people attended the church’s Sunday service.

Between two services held the same morning at Trinity Lime Rock, the Rev. Heidi Traux, rector at the Episcopal church, approximated a parishioner count of up to 150 people.

For a smaller, “family-sized” setting like the Falls Village Congregational Church, an Easter Sunday parishioner count of around 40 was consistent with previous years, if not slightly higher.

A similar report came from Peter Brown, pastor of the Canaan United Methodist Church.

In light of two church closings (Amenia’s Presbyterian and North Canaan’s Episcopalian) within the past four years, these numbers can be encouraging.

Celebrating its 275th anniversary this year, attendants of the First Congregational Church of Kent have been paying special tribute to their church’s importance. Once a month for the entire year, the church features speakers who talk about why they attend the church. The main anniversary celebration will be held on Sunday, April 24.

Beyond the numbers, the regional churches’ Easter highlights were numerous. At Trinity Lime Rock, a Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday) service was delivered in Spanish for the first time and was accompanied by a musical performance by the Alturas Duo.

It was “not the usual church music,”  Traux said with a chuckle, but participants enjoyed its uplifting spirit.

In North Canaan, Brown was pleased to report the addition of a children’s segment to this year’s Easter service at the Methodist church.

The presence of the children, Brown commented, was one sign among many of the church’s growth in the past six to eight months. For the future, he looks to improve parking for the United Methodist Church’s attendants, but “that’s a good problem to have.”

For Fador, Sharon and Cornwall’s enthusiastic Easter spirit was not surprising.

“It has to do with the political theme out there,” he said, mentioning the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. “I think there’s a tendency to want to turn to the church.”

Fador wants to explore the importance of finding authentic spirituality and faith through a process of meditation and prayer.

Both he and Brown expressed appreciation for non-denominational events such as services held for the Lenten season or at sunrise on Easter Sunday.

Events such as these, Brown said, when the churches come together, are important for the future strength and sustainability of the communities’ faith.