Celebrate Easter at Area Churches

• 12404 Boyette Rd, Riverivew, will host Good Friday services at 7 p.m. Friday, April 6. An Easter egg hunt will take place Saturday, April 7, at 9:30 a.m. April 8 Easter services will be at 7:30, 9 and 11 a.m. 

• 5049 Bell Shoals Rd., Valrico, will begin the the Sacred Triduum the Mass of the Lord's Supper at Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m. This is a powerful commemoration of the Last Supper with the washing of feet. Afterward the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be reserved in the Chapel of Repose in the church's "garden" until midnight.

On Good Friday, April 6, the church will host a Good Friday retreat for kids from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the school building, 10424 Saint Stephen Circle, Riverview, for a nominal fee. Call the Religious Education Office for reservations, 813-671-4434.

Morning prayer begins on Good Friday at 8 a.m. Stations of the Cross will be observed at noon and as the "Living Stations" with the Life Teen youth will be held at 8 p.m. At 2:30 p.m., St. Stephen will begin its nine-day Novena of Divine Mercy. And at 3 and 7 p.m. residents are invited to a Celebration of the Lord's Passion.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, April 7, those who are to be received into the church at the Easter Vigil will have Preparation Rites. There will be a blessing of the Easter food and baskets at 11 a.m. The Divine Mercy Novena will be prayed communally at 3 p.m. And the Easter Vigil will begin at 8 p.m. with a bonfire outside the church.

The church will celebrate Easter Sunday, April 8, with a sunrise service on the school grounds at 6:15 a.m. There also will be Masses at 8, 9:30, 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The third day of the Divine Mercy Novena will begin at 3 p.m.

• 3315 Bryan Rd., Brandon, will host a Tenebrae Service of Darkness Friday, April 6 from 7 to 8 p.m. Easter services will take place at the church at 8:15, 9:45 and 11:15 a.m.

• FishHawk Fellowship Church, 15326 FishHawk Blvd., Lithia, will host Easter Sunday services at 8, 9:30, 11:15 a.m. and 5 p.m.

• Lamb of God Lutheran Church, 10540 Browning Rd., Lithia, will host a Maundy Thursday Service April 5 at 7 p.m., commemorating Jesus establishing the Sacrament of the Altar as a perpetual remembrance and participation of His death.

A Tenebrae Service built around the final words of Jesus from the Cross that ends in darkness in anticipation of the Resurrection will take place Friday, April 6 at 7 p.m.

Easter will be celebrated with an outdoor sunrise service with candlelight at 6:30 p.m. and the Divine Service with Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11 a.m. in the church sanctuary.

• 6026 Churchside Dr., Lithia, will celebrate Easter at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 8.

• , 2913 John Moore Rd., will begin its Holy Week celebration with a Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m. April 5.

The celebration continues April 6 with a Good Friday service at 7 p.m.

A Holy Saturday Easter Vigil Service will take place Saturday, April 7, at 9 p.m.

And Easter Sunday services will be held at 6:30, 8:30 and 11 a.m. with a complimentary Easter breakfast served from 7:30 to 11 a.m.

• Brandon Fellowship Baptist Church, 2700 John Moore Rd., Brandon, will celebrate Easter Sunday with a cantata celebrating the resurrection of Christ at 11 a.m.

• 2650 Lithia-Pinecrest Rd., Valrico, will celebrate Easter Sunday with an outdoor Easter sunrise service at 7 a.m. The celebration will continue with an Easter breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and an Easter celebration service at 10 a.m.

• 8002 U.S. 301 S., Riverview, will begin its Holy Week celebration with a Maundy Thursday worship service at 6 p.m. The church will celebrate Good Friday at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church, 3315 Bryan Rd., Brandon, at 7 p.m. Easter Sunday services will begin with an Easter Sonrise Service at 8:30 a.m. along the Alafia River followed by a service in the church sanctuary at 11 a.m. 
  

• , 6819 Krycul Ave., Riverview, will begin Holy Week with a Mass on Holy Thursday at 7 p.m. There will be a Good Friday service in English at 4:30 p.m. and another in Spanish at 6 p.m. followed by a Passion Play at 8 p.m.

The church will host its Saturday Easter Vigil at 8 p.m. and then celebrate Easter Sunday at 8 and 10:30 a.m. with a Spanish Mass at 12:30 p.m.