Livestream | Watch the Easter Sunrise Service HERE
Cost:
Free and open to the public.
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 77 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. More details are below.
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?
We have SIX (6) more spots made available, but please note that these spots involve parking at the nearby T-REX Park-n-Ride lot and then taking a shuttle at 4:30 a.m. to the backstage area of Red Rocks to access your reserved seating. After you make your donation, you’ll get further instructions.
We know that this can be confusing, but here goes. You don’t have to buy a seat and parking pass if you want to attend the Easter Sunrise Service. If you don’t, you’re in the group of people who getting seating and parking on a first-come basis. HOWEVER, you have an option of getting reserved seating and parking. To do so, you need to become a sponsor. Sponsorships are available at the following levels:
$250 for 2 people plus one reserved parking spot in the Trading Post lot.
$500 for 4 people plus one reserved parking spot in the Trading Post lot.
$1,000 for 8 people and two reserved parking spots in the Trading Post lot.
All sponsors who make payment before April 10, 2025 will be acknowledged in our slide show displayed on the big screen.
To make a payment to reserve your spot, please click HERE and enter the appropriate amount of your sponsorship. You will not receive an actual ticket. Your name will be put on a VIP list. When you arrive at Red Rocks, give your name to the security team, they will check your name off the VIP list and direct you to the Trading Post. From there, you’ll be shuttled to the backstage area to have refreshments and head to your seating.
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 6:14 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 (current page)
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.
Give
Did you know that it costs us $35,000 to host this worship service? We rely on your generosity to provide it for free to the general public. A donation of $10 from everyone who attends in person and watches this livestream will help us continue to do so. You may support this annual worship service in 3 ways by:
Check: Send a check to:
Easter Sunrise Service, Colorado Council of Churches, 2201 Dexter Street, Denver, CO 80207.
Cashapp: Send an amount to $colochurches via CashApp. THIS APP IS NOT CURRENTLY PROCESSING DONATIONS TO US.
Text: Text “ESSRR78” to 844-844-6844
Paypal: Click on the QR Code below:
Thank you for blessing the Colorado Council of Churches!
Worship Leaders
Our Preacher:Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran, Executive Minister, American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains
Rev. Dr. Steve Van Ostran has served as Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains since March,2008. His passion for the work of the Region grows out of his 18 years as a local church pastor. From that he has the hope of reclaiming the “incarnational” nature of the local church that the Apostle Paul depicts by calling the church “The Body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12:27).
Steve seeks to help local churches reconnect with their community and to discover new avenues of ministry there. To that end, Steve is also passionate about connecting churches and pastors with cross cultural missions and missionaries around the world that they might learn from one another. He has led or participated in multiple trips to connect pastors and leaders with International Missionaries and their work around the world.
Prior to his service for ABCRM, Steve served on the ABC of the Central Region staff. Before this, he served churches in Ottawa, Ks, Carbondale, IL, Wood River, IL and Madison, IN. In addition, he has also served as an adjunct professor, served on the Planning Commission of the City of Ottawa and has served on numerous boards for non-profits and seminaries.
Steve received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in June of 1994, his Master of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in May of 1987 and his undergraduate degree from Missouri Southern State College in Criminal Justice Administration.
Additional Worship Leaders
Bishop Meghan Johnston Aelabouni was elected to a six-year term as the fourth bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod on April 27, 2024, at the synod assembly in Loveland, Colorado. She was installed on Saturday, October 5, at Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver.
Bishop Meghan was born and baptized in the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA (at Zion Lutheran, Salt Lake City, Utah) and grew up in Wyoming (at St. Paul Lutheran, Cheyenne) and in northern California. Her call to ministry grew from active participation in the church from an early age: in Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, and children’s choir; serving as an acolyte and on altar guild with her mother; attending youth group and youth gatherings; and generally getting up in front of her congregation to speak or sing at every opportunity.
After serving as an associate pastor for Youth and Family Ministry at Christus Victor Lutheran (Elk Grove Village, IL) and as co-pastor with her spouse at Trinity Lutheran (Ft. Collins, CO), Bishop Meghan began a PhD in Religion, Media, and Culture at Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver (completed in 2021). In 2019, Bishop Meghan and Pastor Gabi were called by the ELCA into Global Mission, serving in Jerusalem with the ELCA’s partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.
While in Jerusalem, Bishop Meghan served as a Country Coordinator for the Young Adults in Global Mission program in Jerusalem/West Bank, as the ELCA Theologian in Residence for the Middle East and North Africa desk, and as co-pastor for the English-speaking congregation of Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem.
Bishop Meghan believes deeply in the church’s calling from God to be present as the body of Christ for our neighbors in this and every time, grounded in the sure and certain love of God for us in Jesus Christ. Her preaching, teaching, and pastoral ministry have focused on connecting the Gospel and our scriptures to the here and now of the world in which we live, move, and have our being. Bishop Meghan has authored several in-depth Bible studies for Gather magazine (on the topics of theodicy, repentance, holy time, holy places, and faith “after certainty”). As a founding team member for the ELCA initiative, Sumud: for justice in Palestine and Israel, Bishop Meghan has frequently presented online and in person about justice issues in the Holy Land and the vital ministry of the indigenous Palestinian Christian community.
Rev. Kristin Stoneking, Resident Bishop of the Mountain Sky Conference, was elected to the
episcopal office at the July 2024 Western Jurisdiction Conference in Spokane, Washington. The
Mountain Sky Conference includes 311 United Methodist churches Colorado, Wyoming, Montana,
Utah, and small piece of Idaho.
Bishop Kristin Stoneking brings a rich and varied background and a passion for creating welcoming
communities and advocating for a more just and peaceful society to her episcopal role.
Serving churches in Chicago, Kansas and in Northern California, Bishop Stoneking has revitalized
local churches through the development of community-based ministries, attention to abundance,
generosity and stewardship, and courageous leadership.
After seminary in Chicago, Bishop Stoneking served Centenary United Methodist Church in
Lawrence, Kansas where she worked with local community groups to develop community summer
lunch programs, after school programs and organized with others against gun violence. She then
moved to California where she served as executive director and campus minister at the University of
California, Davis where she re-invigorated the United Methodist-related ecumenical campus ministry
by leading the community to found The Multifaith Living Community, building six townhouses to
house 42 students. The nationally recognized model included students from many faith
backgrounds, was structured on a dedication to faith, community, social justice, and sustainability,
and made the campus ministry financially self-sustaining.
Bishop Stoneking then served as the national executive director of the US branch of the historic
Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), an anti-racist, interfaith justice and peace organization with
consultative status at the United Nations. Part of a worldwide communion, FOR is the oldest
interfaith peace and justice organization in the United States.
Bishop Stoneking’s dedication to establishing and expanding communities that offer a sense of
belonging inspired her work as a District Superintendent and Director of Innovative Ministries and
Congregational Vitality for the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist
Church.
Deeply committed to making theological education more widely accessible and impactful, Bishop
Stoneking has served as an associate professor of United Methodist Studies and Leadership at the
Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California and an adjunct faculty member teaching United
Methodist History at the Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles, California.
Bishop Stoneking is a graduate of Rice University (B.A.) and Garrett-Evangelical Theological
Seminary (M.Div.). She is a former Fellow of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University where she
now serves as an advisor.
She earned her PhD at the Graduate Theological Union where she attained her Doctor of
Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on comparative theology, nonviolence education and
conflict resolution.
As the episcopal leader of the Mountain Sky conference, Bishop Stoneking brings a deep faith and
belief that a world where all can thrive and experience the love of God is not just possible, but
promised.
Worship Music Leaders
Our music will be provided this year by Bro. Tarell Martin and the C2 Mass Choir. The C2 Mass Choir is a professional, community-based choir, under the leadership and direction of musician and producer, Tarell Martin. C2 is the reignited extension of the original Stellar Award-Winning Colorado Mass Choir, created and founded by Joe Pace.
The C2 Mass Choir vision and mission is to use their gifts, graces, and abilities to do good in the community through singing that touches hearts, inspires change and growth, and encourages people to fulfill their God-given dreams.
With members of the original Colorado Mass Choir and other gifted singers from across the region, the C2 Mass Choir assembled and began rehearsing in Spring 2021. After hours of dedicated rehearsal, the C2 Mass Choir debuted during its Warmup Concert on July 3, 2021 where they also released their first single, “So Amazing.”
The C2 Mass Choir lives their vision by:
Using their gifts, graces, and abilities to do good in the community.
Allowing music to bring a diverse group of people together in love and unity.
Singing songs that create moments of introspection and reflection.
Living the truth and faith in the songs C2 choir members sing.
Being in community with fellow C2 choir members where we pray for and with each other and grow in our own personal walks of faith
Through every song they minister, the C2 Mass Choir shares the reasons why they sing based on scriptures like Psalm 13:6 (NIV): I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me. And Psalm 40:3 (NLT): He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
The C2 Mass Choir seeks to leave everyone that hears them sing better, inspired, and ignited to pursue the life God has for them.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Adams, Jon and Lori Adams, Amy and Brad Batchelor, Rachel Douglas, Isabella Hines, Stephanie Hodge, Steve Hughes, Kim Leong Lee, Lisa Mansour, Derrick and Debbie Marris, Patricia McCall, Staci Milton, Susan Morgan, Elizabeth Newman, Rose Reese, Thomas Roberts, Michael Ryan, Lisa Siegrist, Gwen Taylor, Beth Vander Werff, David Willett, Save Our Youth.
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