The rising of the sun will commemorate the rising of the Son this Easter Sunday, as several churches hold traditional sunrise services.

Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian liturgical year, celebrating the day when Jesus Christ — the Son of God — rose from the dead and saved mankind from its sins. As a result, it has become traditional for churches to hold special early-morning services on this important Sunday.

One such church is First Baptist Church of Bainbridge, which is sponsoring a community-wide Easter sunrise service for the third straight year. Once again, the event will be held at the Decatur County Airport, located off U.S. Highway 27 North and Industrial Boulevard. The service will begin at 7 a.m., said the Rev. Paul Medley, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Bainbridge.

“The importance of this service is to commemorate the fact that the empty tomb was discovered on Sunday morning, and the resurrected Lord had left the tomb and is alive,” Medley said. “We do not worship the memory of a person, or the death of a person, but we worship the resurrected Christ who has saved us.”

Medley said the service usually attracts approximately 300 worshippers, and is open to all members of the community, not just First Baptist Church members. The service will be approximately 45 minutes long and will include music and devotion.

“The airport is a beautiful setting for this service because it gives you a view of the sky that’s unimpeded by traffic or noise,” he said.

Several other churches are also announcing special Easter services. They include:

• St. Thomas M.B. Church, located at 198 Edwards Road, in Fowlstown, invites everyone to a pre-Easter celebration on Saturday, April 7, at noon. Food will be served and an Easter egg hunt held. On Sunday, April 8, at 10 a.m., the church will hold an Easter celebration.

• Southwest Baptist Church, located at 101 Faceville Highway, will have an Easter sunrise service at 7 a.m. April 8, with breakfast to follow. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. The worship service at 10:30 will feature an Easter Cantata “Champion of Love.”

• Morris Temple First Born Church of the Living God, located at 300 Poplar Ave., will have a sunrise service on Easter Sunday, April 8, at 7:30 a.m.

• Pine Hill M.B. Church, located 1048 Pine Hill Road, will have an Easter Prayer Breakfast on Sunday, April 8, at 8:30 a.m. at the church. Speaker for the occasion will be Bro. Michael Lee of Bainbridge. The Theme is “He is Risen.”