Fresh flowers will be the order of the day on Easter Sunday at Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ in Oak Lawn as it revives a decades-old tradition.

Those at the 10 a.m. Easter service will be invited to attach a fresh flower from their garden to a cross erected as the centerpiece of the celebration. They can alternatively attach a flower provided by the church.

“We have this very large wooden cross we put on the altar at Easter time, and it’s wound with jute rope. We told our parishioners to bring flowers from home to make it extra special,” said Pamela Cusack, who’s helping head up the effort. “At the first song, we’ll process up and load up this cross with flowers so that at the end it will be the most beautiful cross covered in flowers.”

Cusack, a church member for about 40 years, plans to bring daffodils and crocus from her garden. Tulips and other spring flowers will be waiting in a bucket at church for those who don’t have access to flowers at home.

“We’re bringing the cross to life,” she said. “It makes you feel joyful and thrilled that Easter is here. It’s a very happy feeling we get from it. And signs of spring, too, and rebirth and renewal.”

Her husband, Michael Cusack, said the church had observed the tradition of a cross covered with flowers for more than 30 years before the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the practice several years ago, but he’s looking forward to seeing it again on Sunday.

“I think it’s the memory of your children going up and putting the flowers in, and the anticipation of spring and just the mission of changing the world in a sense – taking something bare and bringing it to life,” he shared.

“If anyone wants to join in, they are welcome to come to our church on Easter morning and bring flowers. Join in the celebration of Easter,” Pam Cusack said. “We’ll have joyful music and a children’s message and an Easter sermon. And ‘joys and concerns’ for anyone who needs prayers.”

She added, “Everyone is welcome at our church. People can come and feel welcome. It’s an open and affirming church.”

Daune Sebastian, a member of Pilgrim Faith for more than 70 years, called it “a wonderful way to celebrate Easter and see the cross come to life.

“It’s a visualization,” she said.

Sebastian said the practice started when all of the children in the huge Sunday school program at the church would put flowers on the cross. “As the kids aged out, it became all people coming forward. We had discontinued for a while, and we’re going to bring it back.”

Having children add flowers to the cross was special, Sebastian shared. “It uplifted everyone and represented the true meaning of Easter morning. What does Easter morning represent for all of us? The hope and possibilities.”

The Rev. Daniel Sather, who came to Pilgrim Faith in 2022, thought it was a wonderful idea to restart the tradition and include everyone. “I believe that decorating the cross with beautiful flowers reiterates the Easter story – from death comes life,” he said.

“Faith today has more impact when it is more experiential than cerebral. The design of any worship service, although more cerebral than experiential, is intended to create a resurrection experience each and every Sunday. Decorating the cross helps this to be more real for everyone. I was excited that there was an interest in reviving this tradition.”

Sather plans to bring some flowers to the service. “If our forsythia is still good, I may bring it. There are lots of daffodils blooming, and I suspect that there will be many for our cross. If I can get permission from my neighbor, I may bring a hyacinth,” he said.

For him, however, more important than the look of the cross is what it represents. “It is a powerful act of faith to see the cross not as a death but a new beginning. It is why we call the Friday before Easter Good Friday,” he said.

“The irony is powerful. Within the Christian tradition, the cross is a central symbol of our religion. The cross, in the Roman Empire, was one of capital punishment and a symbol of death. The empty tomb is also a symbol of the Christian tradition, and the empty tomb is only possible because of the death of Jesus,” he said.

“In essence, the cross, a symbol of death, allows for the resurrection to happen. The cross, like the empty tomb, gives life, and so the symbolism of decorating the cross with live flowers dramatized the new life that is possible because of the death of Jesus.”

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.