SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – For the second year in a row, Easter weekend will be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Central New York places of worship are currently preparing virtual or small in-person services.
“I think we’re all hungry to get back together,” Reverend Eric Jackson of Plymouth Congregational Church said. “The way our church is, we still want to wait a little bit for the safety of others.”
Plymouth Congregational Church is one of many places in Syracuse that are electing to go with a purely online service. It is the first time they have done a live stream, opposed to the recorded services they had previously done. So, instead of people packing the pews this weekend, cameras, lights and a whole lot of wires have taken up the majority of the worship hall.
“We have a professional videographer that helps to put together the service,” Jackson said. “Are we the absolute best in the area? I won’t go as far as to say that, but we worked really hard to give people a meaningful worship service.”
Churches are not only rely on virtual services, however. Some, like St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, are holding small in-person worship. St. Paul’s has been holding these services since the fall and simultaneously streaming them online.
“Our attendance in some ways has gone up,” Reverend Philip Major of St. Paul’s said. “Some of these members who actually haven’t been able to come to church very much in recent years because maybe they have lower mobility or they just can’t get going at 10 o’clock in the morning, they can just be in their living rooms watching the service.”
Although online worship may not be as intimate or connective, technology has helped local churches grow. Some of which have grown out of the “local” category.
“Technology is such an interesting animal that it allowed for people who could not come to our church before, to now, from across the country, say ‘we want to start worshipping here,'” Jackson said. “Now we’re getting gifts in the mail from people who might live out in California, Virginia and Texas.”
Online or small group gatherings have become the norm this year. So, although Easter weekend may not look the same as the past, it will look like the new normal. One thing has stayed the same, however, children will still be able to hunt for their eggs. It’ll just have to be at home.
