For centuries Christmas and Easter have highlighted significant events in the life of Jesus Christ.
Yet, he has had to share the spotlight with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
For Easter, which occurs this weekend on April 12, many Christian families will attend special church services commemorating the day Christ was resurrected.
At the same time, many children in those same families will wake up to gifts left by the Easter Bunny: chocolate candy, colored eggs and soft, chick-shaped treats known as Peeps. After the church services, the children might go on “egg hunts.”
Some Christians are opposed to having elements such as bunnies and eggs as part of Easter, believing that they are pagan and that the holiday should focus strictly on the resurrection of Jesus with religious ceremonies.
The Good News, an online Christian magazine, recently conducted a controversial survey in which several respondents said they will not celebrate Easter.
“My wife and I, many years ago, discovered that Easter is a pagan custom and has nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,” said a respondent who called himself “D.S.” “The Easter bunny, eggs and parades are all customs of this holiday, they are not in the Bible and should not be observed.”
Another wrote, “As a wife and mother, I don’t observe Easter because I realize that dressing up for Easter Sunday service in the latest fashion has nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ.”
However, most Christian pastors, including many in Indianapolis, have no objection to observing the secular traditions of Easter.
“I don’t believe that including something children have identified with through the years has taken anything away from celebrating the Christian aspect of Easter,” said Rev. Calvin Kelly, pastor of Good Samaritan Baptist Church. “It has not really caused any of us problems in our spiritual relationship with Christ.”
From noon to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Good Samaritan will host a Easter Extravaganza that will include games, barbecue, an Easter egg hunt and music by the popular Good Samaritan Praise Team and Dancers.
Members of five other congregations are expected to participate in the event, which will include special appearances by the Indy Tornadoes semi-professional football team.
Rev. Samuel Sumner, pastor of Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, agrees that Christians can enjoy the secular elements of Easter as long as they remember that the purpose of the day is to appreciate the fact that he gave his life for mankind and acknowledge that God rose him from death.
“Sometimes we take certain things so far out of context,” said Sumner, who is also president of the Ministerial Alliance for the central Indiana region of the A.M.E. Church. “I don’t need the Easter bunny to help me celebrate Easter but neither do I need to kill the bunny in order to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.”
Allen Chapel also has a series of Easter activities planned. On Friday the church will host The Seven Last Words of Christ, which will feature seven pastors preaching brief sermons reflecting on each of the last seven statements made by Christ.
On Saturday the congregation will have a joint sunrise service with St. John A.M.E. Church, followed by its Easter play that morning and a Easter service on Sunday.
As a character, the Easter bunny is similar in its traits to Santa Claus, since it brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and toys to children the night before Easter.
The origin of the character is disputed, but most historians agree that it was first used as a Easter symbol in Germany in the 1600s and brought to the United States in the late 1700s by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country. The first Easter bunny candy was made in Germany in the early 1800s.
The history of Easter itself has been tied to an ancient Byzantine holiday that celebrated the arrival of spring, and later had Christian elements added to it as the religion grew during the first century.
“In earlier times many people upheld rabbits and hares and eggs as symbols of fertility and renewal,” explained Sumner. “Back in the day when many Christians could not worship Christ openly, they hid the celebration of Christ’s resurrection behind Easter. Christ and the Easter bunny really have nothing to do with each other except for the fact that they share the same day.”
Sumner noted that most people are still able to appreciate the real purpose of various holidays even with activities that are not related to that purpose.
“People observe Memorial Day with barbecues and recreation, although that has nothing to do with our war dead,” he said. “If I visit someone’s home on Christmas and see a pine tree or picture of Santa I’m not going to fall on the floor, especially if the children there are being taught that Jesus-not Santa-is the reason for the gifts. The Magi brought gifts to Christ.”
Kelly agreed that Christians can enjoy holidays if Christ is the point of the festivities and he is honored.
“Even with Halloween, which is definitely paganistic, we have a special event for the youth where they can have fun with positive activities,” he said. “But we keep Christ at the center of it all, and they have a ball.”
For more information call Good Samaritan Baptist Church, 608 E. 22nd St., at (317) 924-1823, or Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, 629 E. 11th St. at (317) 638-9963.
