STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Easter sunrise service returned to Stone Mountain Park Sunday with thousands of visitors.
Bryant Wright and Crawford Loritts delivered the Easter message to those who climbed the mountain or took the sky ride to the top.
“I am just filled with joy in getting to share the sunrise service with so many,” Wright said, “and, as I shared in the service, to be able to preach on Easter Sunday as a retired Pastor, that's a wonderful joy to share the good news of Jesus.”
The annual tradition began 78 years ago, in 1944, when Stone Mountain First United Methodist Church congregant Lucille A. Lanford suggested that the church’s youth group climb to the top of Stone Mountain on Easter morning to watch the sunrise.
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Photos: Easter Sunrise Service at Stone Mountain Park
“It was just an extraordinary experience, especially coming after the pandemic to see so many people who have shown up,” Loritts said. “The enthusiasm here and the beautiful weather that God gave us, and just the response of the people, that they were riveted and engaged. It was just a wonderful, wonderful time.”
Wright is the founder and chairman of Right From The Heart Ministries, an international media ministry, which he began in 1992. He is also the President of the international relief organization, Send Relief. He retired as the founding Senior Pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in 2019. Loritts is president and founder of Beyond Our Generation. He has been a church planter, served for 27 years on the staff of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ), and served for 15 years as Sr. Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell.