North Texas churches offer online, drive-up services on Easter Sunday
It was a different kind of observance for many Christians on Easter Sunday, as churches across the U.S. prepared online services for their members because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many North Texas religious leaders said this didn't change their Easter message at all.
One pastor said this was an Easter unlike any other, and one that people will never forget because most churches aren’t allowing anyone inside.
There’s been all sorts of livestreams, and now some churches are offering unique parking lot services.
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Pastor Toby Abbott, of Round Pen Cowboy Church in Terrell, took service straight to the parking lot in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis this Easter Sunday.
“Because everybody knows that the church is not the building. The church is the gathering of the people,” he explained.
They’ve been doing it this way for a few weeks.
“It’s been pretty consistent,” church member Kendal Morrison said.
Churchgoers are able to sit in their cars or sit outside, as long as they’re at least six feet away from one another.
The pastor could be heard over the PA system, but just like a drive-in movie, they also have if set up where people can hear him over their car radio.
Churches across North Texas are finding different ways to spread their Easter Sunday message.
Highland Park United Methodist Church streamed a sunrise service that took place at Parkland Hospital for frontline workers battling COVID-19.
“We as a church have been praying for you and rooting for you and cheering you on as you’ve been on the front lines of this fight,” the pastor said.
Some livestreaming services invited guests to take communion from home.
Open Door Church gave away 150,000 pounds of food to 3,000 people who are having a difficult time this Easter.
“Well, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and he got up and he slapped death in the face and I think that this slaps the coronavirus in the face,” Morrison said.
The coronavirus is forcing churches to improvise, but most feel it’s not enough to rattle their faith.