Easter (Sunday School Bulletin Board)

Categories: Sunday School Bulletin Boards

Easter gives us the opportunity to get people in the proper mood weeks beforehand. The Bible speaks of a garden near the place of crucifixion. John 19:41 says, "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre,…" There is a garden in Jerusalem, which resembles this garden. Remarkably, it has many of its natural features. Many believe it is the real garden. I have visited it many times. It's cool and fragrant and filled with flowers. I wanted to create the mood of that garden on our bulletin board for this Easter. So I went to my flower collection, which has come mainly from calendars, and I chose many varieties in the purple family. (Flowers of all varieties and colors will do just fine!) I firmed up the pictures by affixing them to printer paper (using spray glue) - but I did not add a border this time.

You can find pictures of the tomb by searching the internet for the "Garden Tomb." Also, you'll find that artists have done a beautiful job creating similar tombs. There are other real tombs in Israel, too. I took a picture of one of my favorites, which is in the north of Israel. Notice the stone that was rolled in front of the door opening. See how heavy it must be. It brings to mind the women coming to the tomb Sunday morning, and asking, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?" Mark 16:3

I enlarged my picture for the center of the bulletin board. You might need to take the picture to an office supply store to get it blown up, or perhaps your printer has an "enlarge" feature. Here is how I do it: Begin as usual to print an 8 1/2 x11 picture. Press "printer properties" (my printer has an "advanced" button in its window), which will bring you to another area called "poster printing". Click on it, and you will see several choices. You will be asked if you would like to enlarge your one-page picture into a 4-page poster, or a 9-page poster, 16- page, or 25. Be sure to place photo paper into your printer. If you click on the 4-page poster, as I did, your printer will divide your original page into quarters and print each quarter into an 8 1/2x11 page. Trim the border using a paper cutter or a steady scissor hand; then using spray glue on the backs of the 4 quarters, stick them carefully back into position onto a poster board or some other large sheet. I used black poster board with a narrow black border, which makes the picture look more dramatic against the flowers. You will see that your 8 1/2x11 original has become a 17x22. Or perhaps your bulletin board is small so that you don't need to enlarge your tomb picture in the first place.

I then arranged my flower pictures around the tomb with the smaller flowers closer to the center and the larger flowers on the outer border. Then I placed the tomb picture with its black border visible in the center of the board, slightly overlapping the flowers.

As for the title of the Easter board, choose your favorite from the resurrection story in the Bible. Or it could come from a favorite hymn. In fact, the board speaks for itself and doesn't really need words. I have white stick-on letters which I placed on four of the flower pictures: "He is not here" "for he is risen" "as he said." "Matt 28:6." You can stick the letters directly on the picture or slip the picture into a clear plastic page protector beforehand. These phrases do not have to be right next to each other. They can be scattered around the tomb on the flowers, above or below the flowers, or even on the tomb. My letters are smaller than usual, which seems to give the board a more intimate feeling.

Enjoy your Easter bulletin board, and send us a photo.

Olene Carroll