Where to Catch an Easter Sunrise Service Around DC – Washingtonian

Whether or not you’re celebrating out of religion or for custom’s sake, a dawn Easter service is usually a transferring expertise. So, earlier than you replenish on sizzling cross buns or go trying to find chocolate-filled eggs, you possibly can catch an early morning service at one in all these DC places. And for individuals who don’t rejoice the vacation: You’ll be able to nonetheless get pleasure from your individual contemplative dawn at one in all these DC-area parks.

Only a heads up: Metro doesn’t begin till 7 a.m. on Sunday, so early birds will wish to drive, stroll, bike, or take trip share to those companies. Dawn on Sunday, April 9, can be 6:41 a.m. within the Washington, DC, space.

A practice in Washington for greater than 40 years (and beforehand on our nice Washington bucket listing), this Easter dawn occasion—thought of one of many largest within the nation—attracts hundreds to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the right perch to view a blazing dawn over DC’s stone-white monuments. This 12 months’s service, which begins at 6:30 a.m., can be hosted by Nationwide Group Church, a Pentecostal congregation with campuses in DC and Virginia. A grammy-nominated Gospel artist, Todd Dulaney, may even carry out. Deliver blankets or folding chairs to take a seat on, because the occasion’s 1,700 chairs replenish rapidly.

2 Lincoln Memorial Circle, NW, at 6:30 a.m.

Watch the solar’s rays replicate off the waters of the Potomac River with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation, which is able to host a 6:30 a.m. service at Alexandria’s Waterfront Park.

1 Prince St., Alexandria, at 6:30 a.m.

Get pleasure from your dawn with free espresso and donuts in hand at this service hosted by Fairfax United Methodist Church. The congregation’s youth will lead the ceremony which begins at 6 a.m. in Fairfax’s Previous City Sq..

10415 North St., Fairfax, at 6 a.m.

Relish within the peace of the morning at Luther Place, an ELCA Lutheran Church, which is able to host a “easy liturgy of music, scripture, and prayer” on its landscaped gothic church grounds close to Thomas Circle at 7:30 a.m.

1226 Vermont Ave., NW, at 7:30 a.m.

This nondenominational dawn service on the cemetery’s memorial amphitheater formally begins at 6:30, however you’ll wish to arrive at the very least fifteen minutes early to catch a morning prelude live performance from the U.S. Military Band “Pershing’s Personal.” Following the music, Chaplain Maj. Gen. Thomas E. Solhjem, the military’s Chief of Chaplains, will ship the Easter message.

Guests with out a Division of Protection ID ought to enter the cemetery through Memorial Avenue and park on the Welcome Middle parking storage, the place a shuttle will take guests to the occasion. Seating is first-come, first-serve.

1 Memorial Ave., Fort Myer (Arlington), at 6:15 a.m.

Benefit from the dawn whereas surrounded by contemporary flowers at this Alexandria produce market, the place you’ll have the ability to assist enhance a cross in buds. The 7 a.m. service, hosted in coordination with the Kingstowne Communion, a United Methodist Church, will function a stay band in addition to complimentary espresso and pastries.

7310 Beulah St., Franconia at 7 a.m.

Watch the morning come to life from the fields of Ida Lee Park, the place Leesburg United Methodist Church will lead an Easter worship service at 6:30 a.m.

60 Ida Lee Dr. NW, Leesburg, at 6:30 a.m.

Collect exterior First Presbyterian’s sanctuary for a 7:30 a.m. service on the church’s entrance garden, the place an Easter egg hunt will later happen at 12:20 p.m.

601 N. Vermont St., Arlington, at 7:30 a.m.

Sing hymns and break bread with St. George’s Episcopal Church, which is able to host a dawn service in its quiet Bloomingdale churchyard at 6:30 a.m.

160 U St., NW, at 6:30 a.m.