Sunrise East Valley Celebrates Easter with Community

Everything has come together for Sunrise Church East Valley.

The church will celebrate its second Easter in Beaumont this Sunday. The church had only met for a few weeks prior to last Easter. This year, the church is anticipating larger attendance at its Easter services and Family Festival.

“We want people to come to church and have some time to meet the amazing families that call Sunrise Church their home,” said Doug Story, the church's East Valley Campus Pastor.

For now, that home is in the multipurpose room of Beaumont's Sundance Elementary School. Members arrive before the service each Sunday to set up sign boards with the service time and location near the school. Back at the school, other members unload tables and chairs and set them up in the room for the service. After the service, they pack everything back into a trailer until the next week.

“We are looking for a permanent facility to call our home so that we can maximize the impact we can have in the community and in the lives of the people who call Beaumont and the surrounding areas their home,” said Story. “We hope to find a home in Beaumont or Banning and see not only the awareness of Sunrise Church increase, but the awareness of Christ through our lives and ministries.”

Those ministries include “Discovery Classes” that teach members about the Bible and classes for children. During the week, the church has a youth group meeting and service and small group meetings in members homes.

Although the church is young, that hasn't diminished its presence in the community.

The church partnered with the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and organized and lead the Kid Zone at the Business Expo and has provided free crafts and bouncers for Beaumont Cherry Valley Parks and Recreation District events. The church is also providing eggs for the egg hunt at Saturday's Spring Fling at Nobel Creek Park in Beaumont, said Story.

The church recently celebrated its first anniversary in March. During that time, church membership has grown from 35 members to nearly 200. Most of those members are new to Sunrise Church, but there were several families from Beamont and neighboring cities who commuted to Sunrise Church's founding campus in Rialto that now attend the Beaumont services.

Story grew up attending the Rialto church and was a Middle School Pastor before moving on to be one of the pastors of a church in the High Desert before returning to Sunrise last year to be the East Valley Campus Pastor.

“Sunrise Church has played such a huge role in my life and the life of my family,” he said. “My relationships with some of the staff and families of Sunrise Church have spanned more than 20 years and those relationships are what make being apart of this church so precious to me and my family.”

Jay Pankratz, Senior Pastor of Sunrise Church in Rialto, said it is encouraging to see Story “effectively touching hundreds of lives” as the Sunrise East Valley Campus Pastor.

“There are times when we wonder about how much impact a church really makes in a person's life,” Pankratz said. “Then when we see someone like Doug who grew up being at Sunrise Church every week with his parents, who joyfully follows God and loves people, who did not stray off course and who is impacting our world for good, it is exceedingly reaffirming.”

Pankratz added it was exciting to see the diversity of people who attend Sunrise East Valley.

The Beaumont church's membership is similar to those at the other four Sunrise campuses-- “multi- ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-generational,” Story said.

“I tell people it looks a little like heaven-- where people from lots of different ethnicities and ages are coming together to worship” he said. “I think people want to be a part of that and that is why a lot of people are coming to see what we are all about.”

EVENT INFO: The church will have an Easter Egg Hunt at 9 a.m. followed by a continental breakfast.

The Easter service will be at 10:30 am at Sundance Elementary School at 1520 East 8th Street, Beaumont, CA 92223, and will be followed by a Family Festival that will include a free BBQ, bouncers, cotton candy, and popcorn.