It's a rousing hymn, especially in the cool of dawn when delivered by a bold brass band as the sun scrambles up over Motiti Island and lights up Memorial Park.

'Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o'er His foes” as the hymn goes.

'We have to have that one,” says Laurie Bell, the retired fire fighter and now Salvation Army chaplain. 'We have that one every year.”

'He arose a Victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever, with His saints to reign.”

Every Easter Sunday at 7am, the local Salvation Army congregation gathers at Memorial Park for a service 'for the faithful”, according to Laurie - the ones prepared to get up early.

'It's about 30 people,” says Laurie, 'Not many, but it is spectacular.” And spectacular because 'Sallies” are different, he says.

'We have uniforms and a brass band. We are already out in the community and it's very easy to leave the church and go down to the park on Easter Sunday.”

There's no sound systems, no drums and guitars and amplifiers. 'We don't need them, we're loud enough. A brass band is loud enough.”

The life-long Salvation Army officer, who's had postings from the lower socio-economic Aranui in Christchurch to Kaitaia in the far north, says the weather has intervened only once in the eight years he's been in Tauranga.

'The gimmick is the service is outside. If the weather forces us to hold it inside then it becomes just another service. It takes the shine off it.”

And when the brass band fades, and after the final rousing refrain of 'Up from the grave He arose”, the Salvation Army will fire up the barbeques down at Memorial Park.

'Something we like to call a Galilean breakfast – we'll sort of imitate what it was like in Jesus' day as best we can in 2018.”

The Salvation Army Easter Sunday service at Memorial park begins at 7am on April 1, and there is a general invitation.

'We have people who don't even belong to the Salvation Army who join us for the service,” says Laurie. 'We enjoy that.”