The sky over Morgan Park was gray and heavy last Sunday morning. Didn’t matter.
Dozens of Glen Cove residents gathered at the water’s edge before most of Nassau County had poured its first cup of coffee, drawn by a tradition now a decade old. The 10th Annual Glen Cove Community Easter Dawn Service went ahead as it always does, overcast skies and all, at 7 a.m. beneath a 17-foot cross overlooking Hempstead Harbor.
Robert Lynch opened the morning on bagpipes, the opening notes of “Amazing Grace” cutting through the cold air at the base of the cross. It’s a striking image every year, that particular combination of sound and water and light, or in this case, the soft gray absence of it.
The service is bilingual, conducted in English and Spanish, which tells you something about how Glen Cove has changed and who shows up to celebrate together. Prayer, scripture, and music carried the morning forward, but the moment that seemed to land hardest was the proclamation of “Christ is Risen” spoken aloud in many languages. One phrase, passed around in a dozen tongues. Something quietly powerful about that.
Clergy from across the city’s faith community took part. Fr. Philip Sandrick of Saint Josaphat’s Monastery, a monastery of the Ukrainian-Catholic Rite, delivered the Easter message alongside Rev. Roger C. Williams of First Baptist Church, a longtime fixture at the Dawn Service. Pastor Cristino Fuentes of Iglesia Apóstoles y Profetas Emanuel joined them. His congregation worships at 7 North Lane in the former First Presbyterian Church building, and this was his first time participating in the service. Not a small thing to show up somewhere new, in front of a crowd, at sunrise.
Pastor Tommy Lanham of Glen Cove Christian Church delivered the Opening Prayer remotely. Evangelist Merle Richards and Evangelist Claudette Bryan of Calvary A.M.E. Church offered prayers and took part in scripture readings. Pastor Raul Martinez of Iglesia Ciudad Casa de Dios Internacional read scripture in Spanish.
Donna Brady, the guitarist for the service, plays with Shelter Rock Church. She put it plainly. “It’s beautiful to see so many different cultures, languages, and faith traditions coming together to celebrate the one thing we all have in common, the resurrected Christ,” Brady said. “I really do love seeing this kind of diversity and unity in our community.”
Rev. Williams reflected on what the day means beyond the liturgy. “Easter reminds us that hope is alive and present among us, and gatherings like this show the strength of a community united in faith,” he said.
For Fuentes, the morning carried its own weight. “It is an honor to take part in this service for the first time and to stand together with the community in faith,” he said.
Eight congregations serve as host churches for the annual event. Calvary A.M.E. Church, First Baptist Church, Glen Cove Christian Church, Iglesia Ciudad de Refugio, Iglesia Ciudad Casa de Dios Internacional, Iglesia Apóstoles y Profetas Emanuel, St. John’s of Lattingtown Episcopal Church, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. That list is its own kind of statement. Nassau County has plenty of towns where eight churches from that many different traditions would struggle to share a parking lot, let alone a sunrise service.
The event also streamed live on Facebook, which meant residents who couldn’t make it to the park in the cold could still watch from home. The broadcast is available on the Easter Dawn Facebook page. That digital reach matters in a community where not everyone can stand outside at dawn, whether because of age, health, or a new baby who didn’t get the memo about sleeping in.
Ten years is a real milestone for a volunteer-driven community event. These things are harder to sustain than they look. Schedules shift, organizers move, enthusiasm ebbs. The fact that this service has grown rather than shrunk, adding new congregations and new languages along the way, says something about Glen Cove and the people who keep showing it up year after year before the rest of the island wakes up.
The Glen Cove community has been navigating some of the same pressures squeezing other Nassau County cities, housing costs, development debates, shifting demographics. But Easter morning at Morgan Park has been, for ten years running, a place where those pressures get set aside for an hour.
Reporting on the service was first published by Long Island Press. The 7 a.m. service is open to the public each Easter Sunday at Morgan Park.