Kylie Wennlund remembers the family's Easter ritual growing up: Dress up, gather with the family, egg hunt. And of course: Church. "We did everything together, so it was just another thing to do with the family," the Hayden woman said of taking in an Easter sermon. "We made it fun." Now it's ingrained.

Kylie Wennlund remembers the family's Easter ritual growing up: Dress up, gather with the family, egg hunt.

And of course: Church.

"We did everything together, so it was just another thing to do with the family," the Hayden woman said of taking in an Easter sermon. "We made it fun."

Now it's ingrained.

Even though the 21-year-old doesn't attend church the rest of the year and actually plans to spend most of this Sunday fixing her radiator, she said, she just can't do Easter without church.

"I'll really try to fit it in," she said. "Just to keep up the tradition."

She's keeping up with a tradition seen nationwide, too: Resurrecting her church attendance on Easter Sunday.

The holiday is marked as one of the highest church attendance days of the year.

A recent Gallup poll found that between 62 to 64 percent of Americans plan to attend church on Easter, compared to only 30 percent who say they attend church weekly.

It's the same story in Kootenai County.

Attendance doubles on Easter - just like on Christmas - at Church of the Nazarene, said Pastor Ron Hunter.

"There's a joke about it - a guy says that 'At church, all they sing is "Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Up From the Grave He Arose," because that's all they sing when I go,'" Hunter said with a chuckle.

He believes the Easter spike is due to the significance of the event on the Christian calendar, he said.

"There's a deep Christian heritage in the U.S.," he said. "People think of those days (Christmas and Easter) as the moments to celebrate, and church is part of it."

Barbara Kingen of Coeur d'Alene said heading to church on Easter is how she bolsters her spiritual rituals at home, like daily prayer and Bible study with her four children, ages 7 to 17.

"When I'm at home, I can talk to God. When I'm at church, I get that much more, because every person I'm around, they've had conversations with God, and they've had experiences," she said. "I think there are so many people looking for that relationship."

Dylan Julian and Trina Taylor, who attend Real Life Ministries every Sunday, admitted that Easter sermons aren't their favorite, as they find the presentation is typically a rerun of every year before.

"To have a relationship with God," Trina explained of why they soldier through it.

They're glad to see so many new faces in the congregation on Easter, Julian added.

"People are doing it (coming to church) to make themselves feel better," he said. "It's a good way to get new people to come to the church."

Hunter said his church does enhance the experience a little bit for the crowds.

Those congregating today will hear an Easter cantata complete with a choir, which Hunter said Nazarene doesn't do much of these days.

"We typically sing when we're happy, so on Easter we have a bunch of folks who want to sing," he said. "Easter is about fun, as well as hope."

He scoffed at the suggestion that he would spiff up his sermon to entice the throngs to return.

"I work hard to keep the point sharp every single time, because there are people who come looking for truths every single Sunday," he said. "On Easter morning, someone will dress up and go for fun, and they may hear something, they may feel something, they may experience something. And when a crisis comes, they'll remember."

That's exactly why Robert Spray goes to church on Easter, and every other Sunday, he said.

He interprets the story of Christ's resurrection literally, as he sees religion as what delivered him from his prior life of drug and alcohol abuse.

"When I went down to church (the first time), I was half mad. I knew this Christian thing wasn't going to work, and I told God, 'I give it 60 days. When it doesn't work, don't blame me. I'll have done my part,'" he remembered. "That was in 1977."

The other congregation members are responsible for teaching him how to live life independent of substances, he said, and he's eager to be around them all the much more now.

"I don't have a problem in church raising my hands and saying, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you,' because I know where I am and where I could have been," Spray said.

Kurt Staeuble, pastor of Coeur d'Alene Bible Church, said he feels a little pumped seeing the crowd swell to 1,100 on Easter.

"I think it's exhilarating when you've got so many people in one place. It's more exciting than overwhelming," he said. "Sometimes I wonder, 'Wow, what's the draw?' But obviously God is doing something in people's hearts."

He tries not to over-sell the church, he said, but he certainly wants folks to like what they see so they give it a shot on a regular Sunday.

"It (the Easter program) has got a lot of different components to it, without being something so large that if someone came back the next week they'd say, 'What happened? They pulled out all the plugs!'" he said.

The most effective moments, he said, are when congregation members are invited up front to testify how spirituality changed their lives.

"I love it because it's very real. It's not 'professional,'" he said.

The entire attitude of the congregation is different on Easter, said Dan Christ, pastor at Coeur d'Alene Assembly of God.

Jubilant, enthused - oddly, excited to be at church.

"It's about good news. It's about what could be, it all goes back to people. It just stirs in people," he said. "On Easter, it doesn't matter what the weather is like. Man, it's Easter, it's a great day, it's great to be part of celebrating something that happened 2,000 years ago."

The church doesn't spruce up much for Easter. No big decorations or special programs.

But the staff does serve its usual cheery greetings, and offers tours to anyone who might think of joining.

He admitted that might not be what folks are looking for on Easter.

Some are likely just there for the day, he said, not necessarily looking for a spiritual home.

"I guess I'm honest enough to say that I think people come out of guilt or out of tradition. It's part of the Easter weekend. It fits in with their Easter brunches and their Easter egg hunt," he said. "I think there's a sense of 'This is a good thing to do.'"

Eldin, 4, has spent three years at Kootenai Humane Society, waiting for the right home.