Easter Egg Hunt Allows Church to Reach Out to Community

Hundreds of kids and their parents converged on the Sedalia Youth Football Fields on the Smith-Cotton High School Campus Saturday at 11 a.m. for the annual First Baptist Church of Sedalia Easter Egg Hunt.

The fields, which were covered ahead of time with well over 5,000 colorful plastic eggs containing candy, were divided into several age groups from birth through sixth grade. Once the participants were greeted by Cara Harrington, Minister of Missions and Children, followed by a prayer and an invitation to attend First Baptist, the kids were released onto the grassy area. It took less then two minutes for all the eggs to be scooped up by eager fingers.

First Baptist Senior Pastor Dr. Glenn Sparks said the purpose of the family-oriented event was to provide an opportunity for the community be aware of First Baptist, located at Seventh and Lamine, and allow church members to personally reach out with the message of Jesus Christ, "We just want everybody to have fun, come have a good time as a family and know that we care about them," Dr. Sparks said during the event.

It's very important to encounter familiar faces when attending church services, Dr. Sparks stressed.

Everyone was treated to free hot dogs, chips and soft drinks following the egg hunt, courtesy of Bing's Supermarkets. And church members provided the candy. In fact, about 30 of them sat down on Wednesday and began filling the thousands of plastic eggs with goodies, Dr. Sparks said. So there was a lot of behind the scenes work involved in production of an egg hunt which lasted all of two minutes. But it was well worth it, said the pastor. "Anytime you a chance to meet new people and invite them to church and to know about Christ, that's when it's worth it for us to get that opportunity."

In addition to the Egg Hunt on Saturday, FBC held a Good Friday service on March 25. Easter services will be held at First Baptist Sunday at 8:15 and 10:45 a.m. Sunday School is held for all ages at 9:30 a.m. Day care is provided. Call the church at 826-2160 or go online at www.fbcsedalia.org for more information.