Moorestown’s Converge Church will host Easter Jam on April 9 with crafts, games and a story presentation.
The event starts at 10 a.m. and guests are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item to contribute to a local food bank.
“We’ll have an area where you get pictures taken; we’ll have a walk-through of the Easter story we tell through what are called resurrection eggs,” said the church’s children’s ministry Director Kitty Bowen.
“It’s a dozen eggs and in each one of the eggs, it starts with Palm Sunday and leads up to Easter and has a little icon in each egg and tells the story of Easter,” she added.
Last year’s holiday get-together was a drive-through event, so Bowen and her husband, Pastor George Bowen, look forward to seeing Moorestown residents in person.
“We’re just kind of wanting to get to know some of the families in the area, maybe reintroduce them to church,” Kitty said. “So many people have not been in church for the last couple of years; they’ve kind of stayed home or watched online, so we’re just wanting to invite the community to come and we want to meet them.”
The church offers youth programs that promote engagement with the community.
“Part of what goes on here with the children’s ministry is just a chance to touch the community, to reach out to the community, and with our youth as well too,” Pastor Bowen said.
“We did a big thing for Valentine’s Day and the kids all made cards and things that I took to the nursing home in Moorestown. And we gave them out to the residents for Valentine’s Day,” Kitty recalled.
Next year, Converge Church will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and Pastor Bowen anticipates meeting more people in the coming months.
“People talk about digital communities and cyber-communities; you can’t really have a community unless you can do face to face,” he noted.
People from towns such as Cinnaminson, Pennsauken, Palmyra and Cherry Hill attend the church’s many events and Kitty and Pastor Bowen are excited for the day’s turnout.
“New families are really, probably the primary thing,” Pastor Bowen said. “To be able to see new families, meet new families. And there’s a ton of work because it’s all volunteerism.”
“We really are wanting to meet some new families and meet their children,” Kitty added.
Registration for the Easter Jam is not required but preferred. To register, visit the church website at myconvergechurch.com.