Pictured above, a sign at the First United Methodist Church in Marysville notes that services were halted in March. Churches in the area are working to use technology to deliver Easter services to parishioners. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Area churches make plans despite constraints of pandemic
While not meeting in person, many local churches are working to ensure their congregations are still able to celebrate Easter.
In many cases, technology is allowing congregants to worship together, even while physically apart.
First Presbyterian Church Pastor Jeff Schooley said it is possible to celebrate the Easter season beyond the walls of the church, especially when it protects the health of the community.
“In fact, we believe that if we have to potentially sacrifice the health and well-being of one of our members – or anyone they might come in contact with – in order to worship our God, then we’ve missed the entire point of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,” Schooley said.
The church is one of many that is posting services online for congregants to watch from home.
Churches throughout the area have made videos accessible on their websites, YouTube channels and Facebook pages. Several churches’ services are also being broadcast by local television stations.
Aside from Sunday morning Easter services, pastors are also offering Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship videos.
Although churches are not bound by the Stay at Home order, many pastors throughout the county have chosen to suspend in-person meetings in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines.
“There is just no way a church can flirt with sickness and death while trying to proclaim wholeness and life,” Schooley said.
Likewise, in a letter to his congregation, First United Methodist Church Pastor Nathan Custer said it is biblical to both pray for healing and take precautions to stay safe.
“Sometimes through prayer God heals us and many other times God expects us to take our medicine, wash our hands and stay home if we’re sick,” he wrote.
Custer said it is difficult to determine what constitutes overreacting or not doing enough, but churches should encourage one another in attempts to stay safe.
“Let’s suspend judgment on each other and support each other as we all do just the best we can,” he wrote.
Worshiping from home can feel different than gathering together, but Schooley said pastors and churchgoers are finding creative ways to “make the season more worshipful for them.”
For example, he said he encouraged his congregants to watch a Maundy Thursday worship video during dinner on Thursday night because the original setting was a table where Jesus and his followers gathered.
Byhalia Friends Church congregants are meeting in church parking lot on Sunday mornings and tuning into 105.5 FM on their radios, while Pastor Jim Gardner delivers the weekly message from the church steps.
On Easter Sunday, churchgoers are hoping to take communion separately, while in their own cars.
Aside from worship services, churches are also seeking ways to maintain connections between congregants while they’re unable to meet in-person.
Trinity Lutheran Church Pastor Barry Scott said his congregation is posting photos online as they worship together. Scott said he has also asked congregants to share photos of their families doing fun, Easter-themed activities like coloring eggs.
He said the church will also host a program called “Chalk the Church” on Saturday and Sunday.
Congregants are encouraged to maintain a safe distance from one another and decorate a sidewalk square of parking space in the church lot with the Easter story of Jesus’ resurrection.
Ultimately, pastors agreed churches must protect the health of their congregants – and the community – while looking forward to safely meeting again.
“When the day arrives for us to gather once again around the altar of the Lord, there will be a new joy in each of our hearts,” Our Lady of Lourdes Father Kevin J. Kavanagh wrote to his congregation.