Churches celebrate Easter amid social distancing
Published:Sunday | April 12, 2020 | 12:11 AMShanna Kaye Monteith - Sunday Gleaner Writer
The deafening silence of churches today, willed dumb by the muzzle of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a stark contrast to the shouts of ‘hallelujah’ and ‘He is risen’ associated with Easter Sunday, or, as it’s most commonly called, Resurrection Sunday.
Usually considered the most solemn period of the Christian religion, the weekend, beginning with Good Friday (the Friday before Easter), acknowledges the crucifixion of Christ, commemorating His death, burial, and resurrection.
It is customary that special fasting services are held at church on Good Friday, where Christians solemnly observe the nailing of Christ to the cross before meeting again for a grand celebration on Resurrection Sunday for His victory over death and the grave.
Members also partake in communion in remembrance of the Lord’s Supper, said to be Jesus’s last meal before He was sacrificed. This is done on either of the celebratory days, depending on the church.
With social distancing in full effect, church meetings, including Easter celebrations, have been hampered.
In an attempt at filling in the empty slots and making do, churches have taken the worship online, and according to Pastor Courtney Morrison of Fellowship Tabernacle in Portmore, Easter services will be treated accordingly.
BONDING EXPERIENCE
“I do believe the pandemic is stealing away from special occasions such as a Good Friday and Easter Sunday morning services. There’s nothing like being live on location and having fellowship and being close together; that’s how Jesus did it. He was in the room with everyone else.
“However, I believe if families decide to have communion at home, then it may serve as a bonding experience, and the celebration of Good Friday may even become more special, though it takes away from the tradition and that personal touch,” he said as he likened the situation to the less exciting experience of watching a sports match on TV as opposed to being there live and direct.
The pastor shared that the Easter Sunday service will be streamed online for his saints and others who are willing to join in.
He shared, “We have been online for the last three Sundays, and we use WhatsApp to ask persons to get bread and wine, or bread and grape juice, and prepare to join us online, and we are going to encourage them to actually take it as they join me and the rest of the production team online for communion service on YouTube. I believe it will still be meaningful and purposeful, but nothing beats being there in person.”
Despite his admission that social distancing has robbed the church of many things, Morrison admitted that it seems to be becoming the new norm somewhat, which also has its benefits.
“I’m hoping it hurries and goes away as it steals from the traditional sense, but it also makes the church become deployed. It shows that you’re not locked into the four walls. You’re now on the media, and so you can reach any number of persons. For example, our church can’t hold more than 150 people, but when we had the service live online for the past three Sundays, we have had more than 300 persons viewing, so in that sense, it is far more than we used to have.
This also benefits especially the younger persons, who are accustomed to social media, but the older folks, like myself, who are accustomed to coming to church are the ones who are most affected, but it’s all good. We just have to find creative and news ways to ensure that we meet with this new dispensation of how we fellowship. It will be well,” Morrison said.