For some religious groups, Easter Sunday is marked each year by a special “sunrise service,” in which church members gather before sunup for a worship period, in homage to the time of day Christ is thought to have risen from the dead according to Bible accounts.

That tradition is alive and well in Russellville, and Sunday three local churches came together across denominational lines to celebrate Easter together.

The Easter Celebration Sunrise Service was hosted at the Gateway/Russellville Church of God on Highway 43 North, where members were joined by others those from First United Methodist Church at St. Paul CME Church. Worship leaders from all three congregations helped lead the service, with COG’s Nick McSpadden delivering the message, FUMC’s Bo Lloyd giving the reading and a prayer and CME’s Charles Dale introducing the singers and Eric Williams closing the service. St. Paul CME Male Chorus were special singers for the service.

“Anything that brings people together in the community of Christ is worth it,” said McSpadden, who initiated COG joining the Sunrise Service hosting location – CME and FUMC had previously joined for the service for the past four years.

“It’s time for we as God’s people to come together and work in unity,” Dale agreed. “There’s only one God, and he wants his people to be of one accord.”

In presenting the lesson, McSpadden spared his own testimony of coming out of alcoholism and embracing ministry, and he encouraged those in attendance to overcome their barriers to believing and following Christ and to prioritize their relationships with God.

Lloyd said the joint service gave the churches a chance to “celebrate what we agree on instead of always talking about our differences.”

“If we can get to a point where we worship more often together, maybe the differences go away,” Williams added.