Churches all in for total solar eclipse

Those attending Easter worship this year at First United Methodist Church in Ogden, Utah, will not only hear a sermon and sing alleluias. They’ll go home with special glasses.

The Rev. Kim James, pastor, decided to take advantage of the solar eclipse that will occur across eight days after Easter.

She ordered 250 pairs of eclipse-viewing glasses to hand out on the big Sunday. Each pair comes with label sharing the church’s contact info and John 1: 5 — “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

James explained her strategy by email.

“Here in Utah, we aren’t in the path of a total eclipse,” she said. “It will only be partial. But I thought we could have some fun with this. Every Easter it’s the preacher’s challenge to tell the ‘old, old story’ in a new and relevant way. So it’s worth an eclipse try, right?”

Any solar eclipse is special, but the one on April 8 will create a 115-mile-wide  — where the sun is completely eclipsed — that extends from Mexico through Texas and 14 other states and on into Canada, affording millions of people an optimal look.

Read more at this link.