The 2024 Easter Sunrise Service will be a hybrid of
in-person and online worship!
Free and open to the public.
Gates open at 4:45 a.m.
Pre-worship service music begins at 5:30 a.m.
Worship service begins at 6:00 a.m.
Watch the Easter Sunrise Service HERE
Weather Forecast for Easter morning!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Easter Sunrise Service at Red Rocks Amphitheatre?
This is an annual event hosted by the Colorado Council of Churches for the past 76 years. Thousands of people gather for this joyful celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For many of them, this is their only exposure to The Gospel. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!
Does it cost anything to attend?
No! This is a free event. You only have to pay if you want to take the extra step of getting a reserved parking space and seating.
How do I get to Red Rocks Amphitheatre?
For information on how to get to Red Rocks, please visit: Getting Here.
How do I get reserved seating and parking?
Go here to find out more about getting reserved parking and seating. Reservations available until 7 p.m., Saturday, March 30, 2024.
When should I arrive?
Most people arrive between 4:30 and 5 a.m. with the gates opening at 4:45 a.m. Non-reserved seating is on a first-come basis. Once Red Rocks fills up, traffic control will start turning folks away.
What time does the worship service start and end?
Pre-worship service music begins at 5:30 a.m. and the service begins at 6:00 a.m. The service usually ends by 7:15 a.m.
How should I dress?
Dress for warmth! This is an outdoor service. The forecast looks good for Sunday, but it will be chilly in the early hours.
When will the sun rise on Easter?
This year, the sun will rise at 6:45 a.m.
Will there be American Sign Language interpretation?
Yes! There is seating reserved in the front rows, stage right, for people desiring ASL interpretation.
Is there parking and seating for disabled people?
Yes! The first couple of rows are reserved for disabled people. We will have wheelchair access. Find out more here.
What do I need to know to plan my trip to Red Rocks Amphitheatre?
For answers to questions like how to get to Red Rocks and what you can bring in, please visit HERE.
Is there a bus to Red Rocks for this service?
Unfortunately, no. You’ll have to come by car or ride share.
Are you collecting food donations this year?
Unfortunately, no.
I don’t know if I want to get up that early, or I can’t attend in person. May I watch the service online?
Yes, you may watch live, or later, online using any of the following platforms:
The Colorado Council of Churches website
The Colorado Council of Churches Facebook page
The Colorado Council of Churches YouTube channel
Wow! This seems like a really big event. Do you need donations to help cover your costs?
YES! It takes considerable resources to do this free community event, and we primarily rely on donations to cover our costs. Some of the expenses include:
- Renting the Red Rocks Amphitheatre venue;
- Hiring the wonderful Red Rocks staff who do innumerable things to make this worship service happen; Professional audiovisual equipment;
- Law enforcement to handle traffic control and keep us safe;
- Providing the livestream seen by people around the world; and
- Providing the doves we release at the end of the service.
Our goal this year is to raise $35,000. Even if you don’t attend the service, please make a donation to this wonderful way to share The Gospel. Use the QR code below to make a donation:
Thank you for blessing the Colorado Council of Churches!
The Worship Service
Worship Leaders
Our Preacher for the Morning: Rev. Erin Gilmore, Acting Conference Minister, Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ
Rev. Erin Gilmore is an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and currently serves as the Acting Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UCC. Prior to this role, she served as an Associate Conference Minister of the Rocky Mountain Conference from 2017-2023. Before being called to serve in the conference, Rev. Gilmore served as a pastor of two congregations, first at Holladay United Church of Christ in Salt Lake City, UT and then at First Congregational Church, in Loveland, CO. In her current work she seeks to support clergy and lay leadership as they aspire to create life-giving and life-affirming spaces that embody the best of what we can be as the Body of Christ.
In addition to serving in the UCC, Erin is also involved in a worldwide practice of Participative Leadership or the Art of Hosting, which is an approach to leadership that seeks to address the complex challenges we face by harnessing the wisdom and self-organizing capacity of human beings.
Dee is the Lead Presbytery for Denver Presbytery. She is the former Gap Presbyter of Coastlands Presbytery (New Jersey) and Interim Executive Presbyter for Heartland Presbytery. She is also a Certified Coach through the Hendricks Institute. She is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family systems therapist. She is a founding faculty member of the Restoring Resourcefulness program. Dee serves on the Presbytery Mission Agency Board and serves on the Unification Commission, uniting two agencies of the PCUSA. She has served as the moderator for the Presbyterian Mental Health Network.
Dee has presented and facilitated many national workshops for the denomination, presbyteries, synods, churches, and numerous AF bases around the US. Dee is the Director for MALT (Mid America Lincoln Trails) Transitional/Interim Presbytery Leader Certification Program and a faculty member of the Presbyterian Leader Formation, an intensive course for all Mid Council leaders.
Rev. gretchen N. Sausville is the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Denver, a role she began April 1, 2023 and served as the pastor of Arvada Presbyterian Church from 2017-2022. She previously served for 10 years as the Associate Pastor and Acting Head of Staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, CT where she became actively involved in interfaith work with the Jewish Federation of Hartford and IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services). Her extended family has members from the 3 Abrahamic faiths, and she was raised in an interfaith community and attended an ecumenical congregation in NJ.
A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of Northern Colorado, gretchen is passionate about preaching and creative worship, helping all generations of people think about faith outside the box, and developing interfaith conversations and partnerships. In 2019, she received her Certificate in Community Organizing from Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary. She is a northeast native, and loves to travel having lived in CT, CO, CA, and Scotland. She leads interfaith pilgrimages to Palestine, Israel, and Jordan and completed her first Camino in 2017. She is a potter, actor, pet parent, traveler, and yoga instructor and lives by the words of Micah 6:8. The lowercase “g” in gretchen’s first name is not a typo; it appears that way on her birth certificate because her mother loved the artistry of the lowercase letter g.
The Worship Service Bulletin
Worship Music Leaders
Blood Brothers
Meeting through the reach of their local church, members of the mountain band Blood Brothers have collaborated to build a community-based ensemble that provides top notch musical performances at outdoor festivals, private parties and area venues. Building from humble beginnings as a duo, Blood Brothers continues to grow and presents up to a six piece band based on venue and request. Armed with a diverse set list of originals, classic rock, folk, country, blues, smoky pop, and worship music that spans over five decades of timeless songs audiences of all ages and walks of life love singing together.
Lance Swearengin-Guitar and Vocals
Josh Harwood-Guitar and Vocals
Bob Brown-Bass
Troy Steinbach-Keys and Vocals
Jay Genender-Fiddle
Taylor Mead-Drums
Instagram and Facebook @bloodbrothers303
Colorado Native Ron McMillon has a style that is a mixture of Gospel and Smooth Jazz. Having studied music at the collegiate level, Ron’s creative versatility is on full display at his inspired performances at concert venues, churches, and jazz festivals.
Ron has achieved the great accomplishment of charting on the prestigious Top 30 Billboard in the music industry. His music is played on radio worldwide, including Sirius XM Radio, and on the Music Choice channel on TV. He has also had the privilege to play alongside some very high-profile artists in the Gospel and Smooth Jazz industry.
Ron’s sincere passion for music ministry and his love for God is the foundation of ALL of his successes in the music industry.
Fr. Michael Nicosia is a priest of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC) living in Aurora CO with his husband Marc. A member of the St. Paul Catholic Community in Denver, he currently serves the ECC’s Rocky Mountain Region as Vicar of Ecumenical Engagement and as a member of the Colorado Council of
Churches (CCC) Board of Directors. A regular contributor to Council events, Exec. Director Adrian Miller refers to him as “the CCC’s house band.” A singer and Native American flute musician, he is also a member of a local Broadway Cabaret troupe.
It was with the Xavier Company, a Christian performing arts troupe in NYC, that Michael found his gifts meeting the needs of the world. Art and faith now combine in planning worship services of all kinds. With a particular focus on our baptismal charge to be “the Body of Christ incarnate, the Blood of Christ poured out for the life of the world,” he is an advocate for social justice, providing clergy support for Capitol Hill United Ministries, the Women’s Homelessness Initiative, and Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence. After years of service as a chaplain in eldercare, then hospice ministry, he currently works as a PRN Chaplain at Highlands Ranch Hospital.
Before his religious calling, Fr. Michael received his BFA in Art and Art Education from Syracuse University; it was in an Interior Design class that watercolors became his preferred medium. His company Spirit songs exhibits his postage-stamp-size paintings at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls & Toys’ annual shows, and offers them with larger works on-line. An award-winning member of the Aurora Arts Guild, his talents continue to be used in service of the Church, having designed logos for the ECC as well as for the CCC Easter Sunrise Services.
THANK YOU to our Sponsors!
Greg Bonn, Anthony Cox, Stacy Fierce, Stephanie Halvorson, Jeffrey McLennan, Mike Nielsen, James Rogers, Brian Smith and the Museum of Boulder.
