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The Village Church of Northbrook held a sunrise service on Easter Sunday at Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook.

Approximately 50 people attended the 7 a.m. service on the east side of the clubhouse building with seating on the uncovered patio. Some people brought blankets and folding lawn chairs.

Sunrise was at 6:07 a.m. The weather was sunny at 33 degrees with a clear view of the Chicago skyline from the hilltop.

“I think that in the midst of the cold and the chill, there is warmth from the hope that we receive through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” said Rev. Spencer Lundgaard of Northbrook, senior pastor at the Village Church of Northbrook. “That is what we gather for, that’s what we come together for and it’s pretty exciting.”

Lundgaard indicated that the message of the day included the many impacted by the war in Ukraine.

“We are certainly thinking of those who are not filled with hope,” Lundgaard said.

“People in Ukraine certainly are celebrating and remembering the resurrection,” he added, ” . . . in the midst of death and despair.

“We are bound to them as fellow Christians.

“It (sunrise) certainly did rise for them (Ukraine) and it rises for us and it’s a reminder that the Son of God is risen for all of us,” Lundgaard said.

Dusty and Karen Schlueter of Northbrook helped to set up. On Easter, the Schlueters acknowledged Ukraine.

“What we celebrate today would be a good reason to understand that that would be a source of comfort and peace,” Karen Schlueter said.

The service included music by Luke Stoner or Northbrook, pastoral intern, who performed on a Martin acoustic guitar.

“It’s really cool,” Stoner said of Willow Hill. “It’s a beautiful setting.”

For Ed Burton of Northbrook, the church’s youth and family minister, “Some people walk into the sanctuary at a church and it just strikes them with the beauty and the stained glass and the wood and the organ.

“But for some folks, they walk out here and it’s the same effect,” Burton said.

Craig Brown of Northfield said about Easter, “For me, it’s the most important holiday for a Christian.”

Brown showed emotion when he was asked who he was thinking about on Easter morning.

“I think about my parents that are gone,” Brown said, of his parents who were from Mundelein.

Brown looked east on the hill as he spoke. The rising sun illuminated his face and a tear rolled from his right eye.

Brown took note of, “the serenity, the sun coming up,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful way to start the day.”

Visit https://village church northbrook.org.

Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.