Easter celebrations 2026: Messages from Geraldton’s religious community leaders

With Easter just around the corner, it is a reflective time for many in the Geraldton community.

Congregations are preparing for their Easter festivities, and leaders of these churches are sharing their Easter messages.

Bishop Michael Morrissey

Catholic Bishop of Geraldton

2026 sees everyone living in a world of uncertainty, with conflicts happening in many places where peace for ordinary people and their families is non-existent.

There is deep concern for safety in our world, with no end in sight to the many conflicts. Our own local communities have many people and families experiencing cost-of-living challenges, causing unease and immense pressure.

In John’s Gospel 20:19-31, Jesus Christ, after Good Friday and Easter Sunday, greets the Disciples three times with “peace be with you” as the Risen Lord. The first greeting brings peace to the fear, sadness, helplessness and sense of betrayal the disciples were experiencing following the darkness of Good Friday. The second greeting transforms their lives from darkness and fear to people of faith, hope and love.

The third greeting of peace leads to a personal and poignant encounter with Jesus for Thomas. Thomas, the disciple of many questions, continues to be overcome by grief and disbelief despite his friends joyfully telling him they have seen the Risen Lord.

Given what is happening in our world at this time, being so visible and real on social media platforms, we too can be overwhelmed like Thomas, allowing the situation to control our lives, where spiritual joy and hope become absent.

True peace seems to be a goal we can never obtain and seems like an illusion for many people. Fear then controls all our decisions, where love itself for our neighbour and the person in need becomes absent or not important.

Jesus, who personally returned for Thomas in the Gospel, returns for us, bringing his peace and offering the same message of hope and joy despite situations or circumstances impacting our lives.

This Easter, may the generosity of our heart and spirit lighten the burdens of others, revealing that peace is possible in our local communities through our own peaceful encounters with each other.

Bishop Darrell Parker

Anglican Diocese of North West Australia

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once remarked that no amount of contrary evidence seems to disturb humanity’s good opinion of itself.

Many insist on continuing to have a high view of our race when the evidence would convince us otherwise. These people argue that humanity is basically good; it’s really only our behaviour that lets us down.

But that’s just the point, isn’t it? Our behaviour does let us down — badly! Contrary to the opinion of many, our poor behaviour isn’t some unfortunate anomaly — our behaviour points to who we truly are. Let me give you just a small taste of the evidence all around us.

It’s always been the case that 10 per cent of the world’s population controls 90 per cent of the wealth — the other 90 per cent have always been poor. That has never changed.

Humanity has only ever needed the smallest of reasons to hate and to show prejudice — the colour of someone’s skin has usually been enough.

We therefore continue to murder, hate, and go to war. We struggle to forgive — just ask the current generation of Palestinians and Israelis.

We struggle to get along with each other, our families and marriages are often not what we’d like them to be.

Many people, even in prosperous and stable nations like Australia, are disillusioned, lonely, confused about what life is really all about, and so turn to sport, TV, drugs, pornography, their house and garden, sleeping around, materialism, or alcohol to dull the pain.

And if that doesn’t work, an ever-increasing number are turning to suicide as the only way out they can see.

Are these the symptoms of a good and noble race with a common cold that will get better, or the signs of a people with an incurable and terminal cancer?

Easter once again stands before us as a reality check. It tells us that God considered his people so desperately sick that radical medicine was needed.

Our attempt to play God and leave the real one out of the picture has failed. Our relationship with God is shot to pieces, and we need a “heart transplant”.

This is exactly what God offers us in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The Bible tells us that if anyone is … ‘in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come.’ (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus makes us “new” by standing in the place of sinful humanity and bearing God’s righteous anger upon our rebellion on the cross, and then triumphing over sin and death on the third day.

Only in Jesus is there room for optimism when it comes to humanity. Only he can change us in the here and now, and only he can make us ready for the life to come.

Jeremy Beckett

Chair of Church Council, Lighthouse Church Geraldton

“It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth”, Thomas Fuller wrote in 1650. It must have felt that way to the followers of Jesus who surely believed that all had been lost. They had watched his crucifixion and then seen him laid in a tomb. All hope was lost.

But the story of Easter is one of hope triumphing over despair, of light driving back the darkness, of life overcoming death itself. We can barely imagine their joy and astonishment in seeing Jesus restored to life and walking among them. This joy is at the very heart of the Christian life: that God’s own Son died and rose again, winning victory over death.

Each of us carries our own burden of shame, loss, or fear of what might happen next. The day we call Good Friday is the right occasion to bring these burdens and lay them down before God, trusting that He receives us even in our deepest anguish. At Lighthouse Church (43 Shenton St, Geraldton), we gather at 9am on Good Friday for a solemn service of reflection and lament (grieving), commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross. All are welcome.

Then on Easter Sunday morning, we gather again at 9am in a very different spirit, ready to celebrate the risen Jesus and declare victory over death. The day dawns, and the darkness is driven back. Hope is restored, and the joy of the Spirit is among us. You are welcome to join in the celebrations as we rejoice in life, love, freedom and forgiveness.

We wish you peace, joy, and a delight in all that is good. Happy Easter.

Pastor Matt Birch

Geraldton Baptist Church

We have a lot to be thankful for this Easter, with cyclone Narelle missing us and then being downgraded soon after. This is a direct answer to many of our prayers.

In our church, we were praying two-fold, that Narelle would go around us and dissolve and that we would use this as an opportunity to love one another and love our neighbour.

We can be both thankful to God for our near-miss while also prayerful and supportive of our neighbours in the North West who were struck by Narelle’s strength.

Last weekend was a good illustration of how Jesus commended us to live.

Matthew 22:37-39 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Can I encourage each of us to remember these words this Easter? As we gather with family and friends and enjoy each other’s company, can we also remember to love and honour God for what this weekend represents and love your neighbours and other folk in your life too.

May God bless you all this Easter, and if you’re curious about what God achieved on your behalf through sending His Son, then please find a church near you this Easter — it’s what we’re all talking about.

Reuben Ricciardi

Pastor, Potter’s House Geraldton

Easter is a powerful reminder to our community that hope is alive. It speaks of new beginnings, forgiveness and the victory of life over death through Jesus Christ. In a time where many are searching for purpose and stability, Easter points us back to a living hope that does not fade.

At The Potter’s House Geraldton, our vision is to see lives transformed and people step into something greater than ordinary. Easter reflects that perfectly, God taking what seemed lost and bringing restoration and purpose. Our prayer is that this season would stir faith, bring families together, and remind people that no situation is beyond redemption.

Everyone is welcome to come and experience the hope, joy, and new life that Easter represents.