Natural Easter Cathedral

In the 4 April 1946 issue of The Cheyenne News, Edward Emerine wrote of how the Easter Services in the Garden of the Gods had changed in the quarter century since their inception:

"More than a quarter of a century ago. the Rev. A.W. Luce, pastor of the Central Christian church of Colorado Springs, was walking and meditating in the Garden of the Gods, his Bible in his hands. When he sat down he opened to the Book of John and read, 'Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden - there they laid Jesus.'

"The Reverend Luce looked about him, saw the picturesque Garden of the Gods in a new light, and an idea was born. He talked to other pastors, and they offered their cooperation. The first annual Easter sunrise srvice was held.

"This year, in a church fashioned more than a million years ago by nature, thousands of worshippers will gather for the 25th annual Easter sunrise service. As the first shafts of sunlight are reflected from snow-capped Pikes Peak, a choir of 250 will lift their voices in a song that reverberates from pinnacle to pinnacle among the red rocks and spires.

"There will be 20,000 or more people in the Garden of the Gods on Easter morning, but millions more will hear the services in their homes, for it is carried over a nationwide radio hookup.

Easter Sunrise Services, 1940's

"Near the monumental cathedral spires, three crosses have been erected. Here will stand the trumpeters who call the assembly to worship. A few hundred yards away, at the base of South Gateway rock, which is more than 300 feet high, the service wll be held.

"The service again will be predominantly musical with the tones of an electric organ providing the background. A 250 voice a capella choir from Colorado Springs will feature the program. Traditional with the service is the well known tenor, Bernard Vessey, who will sing Knapp's 'Open the Gates of the Temple.'

"During the past 25 years, millions of people have attended the sunrise service. They have faced the giant rocks and listened to the choir in nature's great auditorium, accoustically one of the most perfect...."