Thousands greet first light of Easter atop Stone Mountain

Thousands across metro Atlanta gathered atop Stone Mountain to catch the first light of Easter Sunday morning.

While the city slumbered, the base of Stone Mountain was churning with life at 5 a.m. Families carrying throw blankets and lawn chairs filed in line for the gondola cars as young parents rallied their sluggish children, still in their pajamas.

A packed gondola car lurched upward toward a blurred outline of Stone Mountain that was barely visible under the cover of dark, as the more active visitors began their one-hour trek up the other side of the mountain.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

It was an early morning race to the mountain top to catch the daylight at 7 a.m. for the 79th annual Easter Sunrise Service, which featured live worship music, readings from the Bible and sermons from former local pastors.

Another interdenominational Easter service took place simultaneously at the base of the mountain on the Memorial Lawn.

The tradition began in 1944, when a youth group from Stone Mountain First United Methodist Church climbed the mountain on Easter morning to watch the sunrise. Since then, thousands have made the trip on Easter, and crowds seem to only be getting bigger with newcomers every year.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Dressed in her Sunday best, Ginny Wilson, 40, has lived in Georgia her whole life but never attended Stone Mountain’s Easter Sunrise Service until this year.

“This year, I just told myself, ‘I’m going. I’m going,’” she said.

Awaiting the sunrise as the sky became a hazy twilight, the Conyers resident said she already knows she will be back next year.

“It hasn’t started yet, but I’m mesmerized,” Wilson said.

LaVonne Hester-Smith, 60, and Debra Bailey, 61, of Decatur were among the first to arrive at 4 a.m. when the Summit Skyrise gondola cars started running. They came early and fully prepared with blankets, not knowing what to expect.

“I was never able to go (to the service) with kids and life and stuff, but this year, I said I’m going,” Bailey said. “Even if my husband said he didn’t want to come, I said I’m going.”

Credit: Jenni Girtman

The Easter sunrise tradition is shared among Christians around the world to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, a central tenet of the Christian faith. They prepare for Easter with a 40-day period of repentance known as Lent, and important markers during the week leading up to Jesus’ resurrection.

Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem; Holy Thursday commemorates his Last Supper with his disciples; Good Friday observes his crucifixion and death.

For more than 2 billion Christians around the world and more than 7 million in Georgia, the dawn of Easter is a powerful symbol of hope.

“It’s a new beginning,” Wilson said. “Every time the sun rises, it’s a new day. Jesus gave us forgiveness and hope.”

Credit: Jenni Girtman

For C.J. Lester, also dressed in his Sunday best — a coat and tie that he wears every Sunday to Conyers First Methodist Church — the sunrise represents when Jesus was discovered to have risen from the dead.

“Jesus rose from the tomb early in the morning,” said Lester, who was not only at his first Easter Sunrise Service but also his first time atop Stone Mountain. “It’s sunrise, because the son has risen.”

As day broke, Bryant Wright, a former senior pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, read, “He has risen,” from a Bible passage, to which cheers erupted over the mountaintop.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

He acknowledged Stone Mountain’s controversial history — with its mountainside carving of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, other tributes to Confederate leaders and century-old ties to the Ku Klux Klan — and gave thanks to God for bringing the community together on this Easter.

“Thinking about the historical background of Stone Mountain and all the racial issues, all the imagery of the Confederacy, look around you today,“ he said. ”This is a picture of what God’s words say, overwhelming all that past history is what we have in the risen savior Jesus Christ."

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