"In current practice Easter always falls on a Sunday and the Sunday chosen wanders over a period of four weeks ranging from March 22-April 25. ...The point is that the early Christians gave no attention to commemorating the resurrection day of Christ.Passover among the Jews begins with the 14th day of Nisan. It would not be possible to commemorate the actual day of the month and have it always on Sunday, so the choice was made to have it on Sunday, adjusting the day of the month for
Given this information, although the resurrection of Jesus is a historical event of huge importance, we have no Biblical precedent for making it a special day of celebration. That came in later centuries of Christian history. For this reason Seventh-day Adventists have never given the attention to Easter that other churches do.
In an effort to convey the idea that Adventists are believers in the resurrection, a few of our people have introduced Easter observances.
They are fearful we will be misunderstood, and for them it is important that we be seen as orthodox and acceptable to the society around us. They conform to customs around us, at times unthoughtfully.
Actually this practice conveys another misunderstanding — the idea that we give special significance to Sunday because it was the resurrection day. A few of our churches have introduced Sunday morning services for Easter, which for many Adventists creates problems. We recognize that we are not treating Sunday as holy time, but the public may not catch the subtle difference.
Although there exists no clear Biblical reason for observing Easter as a religious festival, in parts of the world the public is so oriented to Easter observance that it is a time of year when they become
An opportunity opens to reach out to the public with the fuller message of Christ, often with good response.
Under such circumstances Easter and its surrounding events can lend themselves to evangelistic outreach without, however, assigning any special religious meaning to the day itself. Wherever there is opportunity to advance the message of Christ without compromising Biblical truth, the "wise as serpents, harmless as doves...(Matt.10:16)" counsel of Christ is appropriate."
Biblical Research Institute General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists