CHICAGO, IL - On Sunday, April 5th, 2026, Chicago's Daley Plaza will once again come alive at dawn for the 19th annual Easter Sunrise Service — a celebration of Christ's Resurrection in the heart of the city. The observance begins on Holy Thursday, April 2nd, when a redesigned 15-foot cross will be erected on the Plaza at 50 West Washington Street. Thomas More Society is proud to co-sponsor the display alongside Tapestry Fellowship Independence Park, Watch and Band Mission, and private citizens Karl and Nancy Fritz.

WHAT & WHEN:

• Thursday, April 2, 2026, 7:00PM CT

The 19th Annual “Cross on the Plaza” begins with the raising of a redesigned 15-foot-high cross. It will remain on the Plaza until Tuesday, April 7th, 2026

• Sunday, April 5, 2026, 6:30AM CT

An interdenominational sunrise worship service celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning through music, praise and prayer. The Easter message will be given by Pastor Juan Carlos Callan of New Life Albany Park along with music by The Gospel According to Blues and the John Fitch Ensemble.

WHERE: Chicago’s downtown Daley Plaza, 50 West Washington Street, between Clark and Dearborn Streets. MAP:https://tinyurl.com/46xe7vtx  

WHO: All are welcome to come to the Plaza to observe the cross during set up and throughout its presence.

ON-SITE CONTACT: Karl Fritz, 773.330.7624

“This Easter celebration is a constitutionally protected expression of religious faith by private citizens in a public forum, and it has every legal right to be here,” Tom Brejcha, Founder, President and Chief Counsel of Thomas More Society, explained. “This display is privately funded and sponsored, without a dollar of government money or a trace of government endorsement. In Grutzmacher v. Public Building Commission of Chicago, Federal District Judge James B. Parsons entered a permanent injunction in 1989 barring any discrimination against religious expression on Daley Plaza. This cross is not here by permission—it is here by right.

“And that right reflects something deeper,” Brejcha continued. “Nearly four decades ago, the late Rev. Richard John Neuhaus warned in The Naked Public Square that America’s public spaces were being scrubbed clean of religion—as though celebrating Christian holidays in the open were somehow ‘undemocratic’ or ‘uncivil.’ That trend has only deepened. Yet people still carry worries, fears, and burdens. We believe that Jesus offers a hope that speaks to those concerns. This cross stands as a witness to that hope.”

Photographs of the event from previous years are available upon request.