El Pasoans celebrate Easter with sunrise service at El Paso High

With Easter Sunday celebrations held around the world, near downtown El Paso the faithful attended a tradition renewed.

“This event started back in 1922,” Randall Gschwind, one of the organizers of the sunrise service held at the El Paso High School football stadium, “when the boundaries of El Paso was a dirt road that was known as Five Points. And there was no real Kern Place at the time, it was basically just around here, El Paso High.”

The service is now in it’s fourth year after being restarted as a tradition, with participants from a dozen local congregations. Hundreds gathered in the pre-dawn chill to see the sunrise and celebrate the resurrection of Christ, one of the holiest days on the christian calendar.

“It’s a wonderful tradition that we’ve been having here for a number of years now,” said David Zaragosa, a member of First Baptist Church. “And it’s a great pleasure to wake up and come here and hear the word of God and hear on this significant day of our lord and savior’s resurrection and just to share it with others.”

Organizers said they plan to keep going and growing the sunrise service and tradition.

“Because of the historical significance of it,” Gschwind said, “plus the fact that this is where it all started in terms of Easter sunrise services.”