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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

CALERA – Collectivus Church in Calera is preparing itself for a busy holiday weekend that promises to bring togetherness, fellowship and opportunities for worship to the forefront of the community.

On Easter Sunday, Collectivus Church will partner with New Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in the organization and presentation of a Easter service that will take place amongst the sunrise.

According to Pastor Ben Nelson of Collectivus Church, there exists an ongoing issue related to the racial division amongst many of the nation’s churches on every Sunday morning. With Easter Sunday being among the most attended Sunday services for any congregation each year, Nelson further attributes Easter services to holding the identification of being one of the most segregated hours of the year.

“The goal of the event is (for us) to be one church,” Nelson said. “We are using this as an opportunity to celebrate Easter and the resurrection, but also to come together as one church across racial boundaries and other diversities and classifications as well. We are excited about that and partnering with New Mt. Moriah and Pastor Mike Jones there.”

The Sunrise Community Service will be held in the new Calera Courtyard, and will serve as one of the first events to use the newly completed pavilion and areas of the city’s project.

“We wanted it to be at a truly communal space and we didn’t really have many options until now,” Nelson said. “We were going to wait another year for all of it to be fully completed, but when the pavilion got done we decided to go ahead and do it now.”

The event will be open to the entire community and will begin at 6:30 a.m. Held at sunrise, the event is purposefully being held prior to other church services as a way to allow churchgoers an opportunity to attend the service without missing out on their individual congregation’s worship services.

“There will be no push toward any one particular individual church,” Nelson said. “There’s no sales pitch, none of that. It will just be a time for all of us to come together and worship. I think it will be a very good day.”

This will be the first time Collectivus Church has helped to organize an event like this, but Nelson has worked with New Mt. Moriah in the past to present similar unity events. Nelson also hopes and believes that it will become an annual event the church participates in and hopes to grow it amongst the other congregations in the community.

In recognition of Holy Week, Collectivus will also be presenting “Stations in the Street” which involves the presentation of 12 art pieces created by artist Scott Erickson.

The exhibit will be displayed on the side of the Cadle’s building across the street from the church.

“They have a big wall that is broadside to U.S. Highway 31, so these big art pieces will be stuck to that wall,” Nelson said. “Anyone in the public can come up and just see each piece representing a step in Jesus’ walk during Holy Week.”

Meant to go up on Monday, the display of the pieces was delayed to Wednesday, March 27 to avoid the rain seen on the preceding day. It will remain up on the wall for display through the end of Easter and Holy Week.

“This will be fully open to the public,” Nelson said. “You can just literally pull up, park your car, and walk through the experience. It is a neat way to use art in our faith as a way to connect us to God and to journey with Jesus in this really special week.”

Collectivus’ Easter services will include the following:

•  Good Friday Service – Friday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m.
•  Saturday Easter Service – Saturday, March 30 at 6 p.m.
•  Sunrise Service – Sunday, March 31 at 6:30 a.m.
•  Easter Service – Sunday, March 31 at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

The Easter holiday will also bring in one additional accomplishment for Collectivus Church, as that Sunday will mark the opening of the church’s children’s building, which was formally known in Calera as the ‘Crossfit Building’.

“We are finishing the renovations this week, so our new kid’s wing will be open starting on Easter. It is going to be wonderful,” Nelson said.