NILES — A local church is aiming to bring the community together with its new Easter weekend event.

Mt. Calvary Baptist Church will host its inaugural Resurrection 5K Walk at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 8 at the Niles Riverfront Park Amphitheater.

The family-friendly event will include a 5K walk – beginning and ending at the amphitheater – that will take participants on a scenic route through the Riverwalk Trail. The event will culminate with an Easter egg hunt, food and refreshments at Plym Park. 

Mt. Calvary Baptist Pastor Bryant Bacon said he was looking to create a new community-oriented event and was inspired by the Niles-Buchanan YMCA’s annual Thanksgiving Day Run to create a 5K walk for the church.

“I wanted to do something different for that weekend. Something that would be more community oriented – whether they went to church or not,” said Mt. Calvary Baptist Pastor Bryant Bacon. “(The Thanksgiving Day Run) has a lot of people involved with it and I saw the walk as something we could do as a way to connect with the community as a whole.”

A Dowagiac native who has been the pastor of Mt. Calvary since 2002, Bacon said the community’s response has been positive.

“It’s been pretty good,” he said. “It’s something new and something we will build over time. I would love to see more responses but I’m really looking forward to it.”

While the event is free, donations will also be accepted. Registration can be done online at mtcbcministries.net/reswalk2023. Those interested in donating for the Easter egg hunt can contact the church by phone at (269) 683-0243 or via email at info@mtcbcministries.net.

“We know it’s a busy weekend for a lot of people, especially the churches,” Bacon said. “But we want to make the experience as enjoyable as we possibly can.”