FROM DR. JAMES TROGLEN
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Editor’s Note: Dr. Troglen is a former pastor of Wetumpka Baptist.
WETUMPKA – Twenty years ago, this Easter, a new pastor brought to the First Baptist Church of Wetumpka a new easter tradition – Flower the Cross. It became a tradition of First Baptist Wetumpka and has continued uninterrupted for the past 20 years. Today the pastor Clint Landry.
Flower the Cross has become a highlight for the entire Wetumpka community. The idea is very simple – erect a plain, rough, wooden cross representing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A somber reflection on the preceding days before Easter.
On Easter Sunday the congregation is asked to bring cut flowers to church with them and they are placed on the cross until it is covered. Then the cross becomes a symbol of Easter and the resurrection. A dead, plain cross suddenly becomes alive with beauty and life on Easter morning. It has become a big deal at FBC Wetumpka and church members, with their families, have their pictures taken in front of the cross. You might say it has become a new tradition at the church.
Families from other local churches often find their way over to the First Baptist cross to have family pics taken as well. What a joyous way to celebrate the harsh reality of the cross with the beauty of the resurrection.
We wish all of our readers a blessed and joyful Easter.
