Ray Hentges Stadium was nearly packed at Capital City Christian Church's first "Easter at the Stadium" event on Easter morning.
"We have looked forward to this all year," Senior Minister Don Fankhouser told the crowd at the beginning of the service.
At this time last year, members of many churches stayed home and watched a streaming Easter service as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened. This year, as people are again starting to go about their daily lives, the church wanted to celebrate Easter with a large outdoor event.
Frank Goehringer, the teaching pastor at Capital City Christian Church, said the church had discussed holding an Easter service at the stadium since it was built by Helias Catholic High School.
"Considering how last year at this day, we were all sitting in our living rooms, we thought, 'You know what? There's no better year to provide an opportunity for our whole church community to be at one place at one time, and what better day to do that than Easter,'" Goehringer said.
The event started with an Easter egg hunt on the football field for the younger children and a digital scavenger hunt for the older youths. Coffee and doughnuts were available at the concession stand, and the church service started at 10 a.m. Afterward, games and food were available.
"It's a great thing for community-building, but also just a great time to gather to celebrate the reason for our faith, which is the resurrection of Jesus, so what better day," Goehringer said.
During the service, Goehringer's 20-minute talk doubled as a bingo-type game in which he gave clues during his presentation.
Early believers in Christ, he said, often greeted each other by saying, "He has risen!" which is answered by "He has risen, indeed!"
The tradition, he said, is believed to have started when Mary Magdalene came before Roman emperor Tiberius. Despite the custom to speak to an emperor only when spoken to, she greeted him by saying, "Christ is risen indeed."
"That began to spread like a wildfire," Goehringer said. "And all of the early believers began to greet each other, saying 'He has risen. He has risen indeed.'"
He said the resurrection of Jesus brings us peace, despite living in a world full of things to be afraid of. He listed several phobias before bringing Seth Harmonn to the stage. Harmonn helps with the church's student program, part of the youth ministry.
He talked about the show "Fear Factor," which challenged participants to gross stunts. He then washed off a worm and challenged Harmonn to eat it, which Harmonn did.
Goehringer asked the audience what they were afraid of. Whatever it is, he said, "You can have a peace that surpasses all understanding. And the reason you can have that is because Jesus Christ rose from the dead."