Easter Sunday

5 April 2026

Bible readings for today

Acts 10:34-43* or Jeremiah 31:1-6
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43
John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10

* The reading from Acts must be used as either the 1st or 2nd reading

NZ Daylight Saving time ends at 2am on Sunday

Liturgical Colour: WHITE

Collect

E te Atua te kaihōmai o te ora me te mārama,
pīataata ana tēnei pō tapu,
e kānapanapa ana te Karaiti kua ara mai nei;
whakahōutia tāu Hāhi ki te Wairua i hōmai e ō mātou iriiringa,
kia tika, kia pono tā mātou whakamoemiti ki a koe, kia tīaho ai mātou hei māramatanga i te ao;
Ko Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Ariki,
e ora ana, e kīngi tahi ana me koe me te Wairua Tapu,
kotahi anō Atua, ināianei, ā, mō ake tonu atu.
Āmine.
Eternal giver of life and light,
this holy night shines with the radiance of the risen Christ;
renew your Church with the Spirit given to us in baptism,
that we may worship you in sincerity and truth,
and shine as a light in the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Jesus is alive! (John 20:1-19)

The aim of today is to understand that Jesus rose from the dead and brings us hope of new life in him, and that something happy and wonderful can come out of something very sad.

Intergenerational Services

Intergenerational Services from Scripture Union

Printable Easter Holiday resources

The Children's Mission (children's ministry in the Salvation Army NZ) have some great printable resources, including an Easter booklet - perfect for printing out for visiting families, or including in Easter isolation packs.
The Diocese of Dunedin have some printable Easter Sunday resources on their website for 0-5yr olds and 5-13yrs

Wrapping the Cross

Wrapping the Cross is a powerful visual way to tell the Easter story, as the cross is wrapped up in clothes on Good Friday, and revealed on Easter Sunday. You may need to adapt the story if greater sensitivity is needed (like young children).

Worship Resources

The Church of Scotland have some worship resources for today

I wonder questions

"I wonder what Mary was thinking when she saw the empty tomb? Turn to the person next to you (if you have many kids) and tell them" or ( with a small group) "Would anyone like to share what they're thinking?"
"I wonder why Mary didn't recognise Jesus when she first saw him?"
"I wonder what you would have been thinking if you'd gone to Jesus' tomb and found it empty?"

Transformation

There is a sermon from the Church of Scotland, which uses a simple upside down face as a visual aid, to describe the transformation between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This could be helpful for families with younger children.
Source: Rev Rosie Frew, Church of Scotland

Easter Egg Relay Race

This is a great game for people of all ages; children and adults can both be accommodated easily.

What you need:

1 teaspoon, tablespoon or soup ladle per 2-4 players
1 hard boiled egg or plastic egg that's weighted with lollies per 2-4 players
Tape, rope or chalk to mark the two starting points- point A and point B
If desired, kind of small prize for the winning team

What you do:

Divide the players into teams of 4. If you have a small group, you can have teams of 2.
Divide each team into two groups, 2 players at Point A, and 2 players atPoint B.
The first player at point A is given an egg in a spoon to carry from Point A to Point B. At that point the egg and spoon are handed off to the next player in their team who carries it back to Point A to the third player and then to the fourth. If players are using different sized spoons, allow them to use their fingers to move the egg between the implements. A dropped egg means that the person carrying the egg must go back to where he or she started from. The first team to complete the relay wins.

Variations:

For younger children, allow them to carry the egg in a ladle.
Adults and old children can use a teaspoon or tablespoon.
If the teams are mixed age (which is fun) give each team one of each kind of spoon so that play is fair.
If you fill plastic eggs with lollies, allow each team to eat their lollies at the end.

Bead Necklaces

For our craft activity today we are going to make bead crosses which you can take home and hang up somewhere, or wear to remind you that God loves you, even you, always, even when you forget about Him, He never forgets about you!

Visio Lectio

Gospel Reflections

A huge thanks to the Diocese of Dunedin for this Gospel Conversation. In one of the most moving Conversations we have had, Lisa, Gary and Mannie join Michael to rejoice in the deep mystery, love and hope of Mary Magdalene's encounter with the risen Jesus in the garden. You won't want to miss this one!

Easter Bubbles

A couple of years ago, Strandz put together some 'Easter Bubbles' resources to help families navigate the Easter story at home. This would be good for those families who cannot join in the Easter celebrations this year, and who want to do something at home.

Hand printed cross

This activity could be done on a large sheet of newsprint paper, to include everyone's handprints on the one sheet, or each child could have their own smaller piece of paper to make a cross. It could be done as described, with the hands forming a cross, or in reverse, with the handprints providing the background to a white cross (as per the pictures below). Craft idea was taken from this website

"PAINTED HAND PRINTS: Spread some paint on each child's one hand and let them place their painted hand print on a poster board and all the hands need to be in a formation of a cross when the prints are completed. When I did this activity, I did these cross-formation-hand-prints on our class room wall for decoration. The kids loved it and enjoyed it for years!"

Papier Mache Tombs

Note: These tombs take a long time to dry. If possible, children should take them home still wet on their paper plate. Those that are left will be dry by the following week.
What you need:

A partially blown up balloon for each child and a few extras
school glue watered down a little in shallow bowls
newspaper to spread on your work surface
scissors
lots of string and yarn cut into 10-15 cm pieces (older children will be able to handle slightly longer pieces)
paper plates or trays for drying the tombs
a bucket of warm water (or access to a sink) and paper towels for washing and drying hands
Felts for naming the plates

What you do:

Put the cut pieces of string and yarn and the bowls of glue on the newspaper on each table.
Give each child a balloon, explaining that everyone is going to make an empty tomb to help remind us of the empty tomb that Mary found. When we see what we make, we'll be able to remember that Jesus was dead, but then he was alive again.
To make the empty tomb, dip one piece of yarn in the glue and then wring it out gently by sliding your fingers down the length of the yarn.
Wrap the yarn around the balloon.
Repeat this process until the balloon is about 3/4 covered with yarn.
Leave to dry.
Once the yarn framework is completely dry, pop the balloon and pull it out through any of the openings to create the empty tomb.

Media

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