- Attendees at the Phoenix, Arizona, Thunderbird Park Stake’s Easter event, ‘Risen,’ ponder the three crosses in the room that commemorate the Crucifixion. They are all silent after receiving some instruction and given time to think before entering the next room. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior’s life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- Families at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ stand in a room with displays of the resurrected Savior all around them. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior's life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix, Arizona, Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event, ‘Risen,’ see this giant cross alongside three others in the room, commemorating the Crucifixion. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior’s life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ see this display of temples and Christ’s work in the latter days. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior's life. Screenshot from Jeremy DeBry's 'Risen’ walkthrough video, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ see this table display in one of the rooms. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior’s life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ see this representation of a bedroom at the end of the event. This bed represents the connection people can have with Christ today through prayer. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior’s life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- At the end of the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’, held on April 12, 2025, the attendee comes out of the empty tomb. This April 2025 event has the attendee walk the path of the Savior by traveling from room to room in the meetinghouse to learn about each moment in the Savior’s final week on Earth. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ see this Passover display in one of the early rooms of the event. This display instructs the reader about the different symbols involved in the Passover holiday that Jesus attended before His death. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior's life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
- At the end of the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen,’ there is a room displaying many pictures of the resurrected Savior. At the side of the room is this display, ‘He Is Risen.’ The attendees followed the path of the Savior throughout the rest of the four-day event, shown here on April 12, 2025, and this part of the exhibit testifies that He lives. Screenshot from Jeremy DeBry’s Easter ‘Risen’ walkthrough video, courtesy of Church News.
- Attendees at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ travel through this hallway and others like it to get from room to room. This event, shown here from April 12, 2025, guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate the Savior's life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.
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This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Sophie Runyan, Church News
Named after a Native American birdlike weather spirit, the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake members transformed their meetinghouse into a deeply spiritual experience this Easter season.
Member volunteers guided visitors through an immersive Easter presentation called “Risen.” For four days, this Holy Week walk brought the Spirit and understanding to attendees as they learned about the Savior, Jesus Christ, in this relatively new annual tradition.
The Thunderbird Park Stake members made it their goal to transform their standardized meetinghouse’s classrooms into the path of the Savior during His final week on Earth. With improvements from the previous year, plants, furniture, wallpapers, lighting, soundscapes and props decorated the rooms to match the life event assigned to that portion of the meetinghouse.
Watch the walkthrough below.
In keeping with the underlying theme of walking in the Savior’s shoes, the presentation ended with a view of the adjacent Phoenix Arizona Temple. President Christopher Keith Dennis, newly called Thunderbird Park Stake president, remarked on that part of the “Risen” Easter event. “There were many with tear-filled eyes as the attendees were touched by the experience, which helped them feel Christ’s love and sacrifice for them.”
This Easter presentation touched the participants and volunteers. Sister Jalynn Baird, a service missionary at the Phoenix temple, said she felt “a sacred privilege to be a part of such consecrated efforts.”
Being in a position to see some attendees, Sister Baird summarized these recurring reactions: “Tears of appreciation. Visual displays of hope. Incredible and uncompromising respect.”
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Families at the Phoenix Arizona Thunderbird Park Stake Easter event ‘Risen’ stand in a room with displays of the resurrected Savior all around them. This event — shown here from April 12, 2025 — guided visitors from room to room to learn and contemplate about the Savior’s life. Photo by Jeremy DeBry, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.“The spirit felt throughout the experience brought us closer to the Savior and helped our members and community understand the great blessings that come through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Brock Grayson, a stake high councilor said. “Because of Him the best is yet to come. He is Risen.”
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