A Black and White Church Held Easter Mega Church Worship Experience
How nice it is to post something positive coming out of the state of Florida regarding race relations. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that a predominantly white church First Baptist of Orlando and a predominantly Black congregation, the Hope Church, came together for a combined Easter Sunday Worship service to show unity among races in Orlando. More than 17,000 people attended the service.
By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel
On Easter Sunday, Amway Center was converted into a 17,500-seat house of worship. “Easter at Amway” was a mega, multi-racial blending of predominantly white First Baptist of Orlando and the black congregation of The Hope Church.
First Baptist Pastor David Uth began the service with a reference to the racial divisiveness caused by the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford. Sunday’s service, he said, was a rebuttal to that perception of Orlando as a place divided along racial lines.
“Let the record show that we are gathered together today black, white, Asian and Hispanic to worship as one. We may look different on the outside, but inside we are identical twins,” Uth said. “We are one here today to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Bishop Allen T.D. Wiggins, pastor of The Hope Church, reiterated Uth’s message of Christ transcending race and gender.
“I feel like the world is looking at us. I feel this resurrection morning is a message to the world that God is greater than anything that could divide us,” Wiggins said.
Hope and First Baptist have worked together in the past on issues such as poverty, homelessness and affordable housing. But this was the first time they combined congregations and worship services, using the occasion of Christ’s resurrection — and the capacity of Amway — to fit inside the same building with room for a new thousand more from the community at large.
There were people who arrived by bus and a tour group from Hong Kong. Free admission and parking attracted more than a few who had never been inside the Amway before. Mayor Buddy Dyer said the purpose of the arena, largely built for the Orlando Magic, is to provide a place for community events.
“Today, the Amway Center serves as a house of our Lord,” he said. “This is holy ground today.”
Uth, in his passionate Easter sermon, retold the story of Jesus appearing after his death to walk among disciples who didn’t recognize him. For those who didn’t belong to a church or had never felt the presence of the Lord, God brought them to the arena for just that reason, Uth said.
“Jesus is a lot closer than you think,” he said. “Jesus is much bigger than you can imagine.”
Rebecca Ferguson, a 61-year-old member of First Baptist, said she found the service uplifting after weeks of accusations on both sides of the Trayvon Martin case.
“It’s encouraging to see us worship all together, especially with all this trouble in Sanford,” she said.
After the extravaganza of arena-size worship, came the spectacle of 700 members of both churches “dancing their shoes off” on Church Street outside Amway. After performing a four-minute choreographed routine, the dancers stepped out of their shoes, leaving them on the pavement to be collected and distributed to poor families in Orlando.
“I thought it was good for the people doing the dancing to donate their shoes,” said Shelby Williams, 9, whose family attends Hope Church.
The empty pairs of lace-less and Velcro-strapped tennies, brightly colored Crocs, elegant high heels, thin-strapped sandals, and lightweight running shoes echoed the diversity and assortment of people, all ages, sizes, and colors, who filled Amway Center on Resurrection Sunday.
