Empty on Easter: Local churches adapt to alternative service because of coronavirus pandemic

Worshippers traditionally flock to Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Illinois, for the annual Easter sunrise service.

The tradition was disrupted this year by the spread of the coronavirus, and the same can be said at churches around the globe. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there were a few people at the cross Sunday to conduct the service and share it with the masses.

Teresa Gilbert, executive director of Bald Knob Cross of Peace, said the experience was “very different” from normal.

Gilbert said WSIL-TV livestreamed and broadcast the service. Although the service was completed outside, Gilbert said they were prepared to have the service inside due to the possibility of rain.

“It’s just been an amazing experience watching everybody pull together,” Gilbert said. “Not one of us could have done it by ourselves.”

The Rev. Steve McKeown, pastor emeritus at Christian Life Church in Herrin, Illinois, spoke at the service.

“Of all the crazy stuff that we’re having to deal with regard to COVID-19 and social distancing and families not able to gather, not able to celebrate graduation. ... It’s just like our world has come to this screeching halt and the message of Easter is a message of hope because the grave’s empty,” McKeown said of what he was trying to convey to viewers of the service. “That’s the central message.”

McKeown said attendance at a typical Easter sunrise service at Bald Knob Cross of Peace in recent years is a little more than 1,000 people.

First Baptist Jackson senior pastor Troy Richards blesses those in attendance at the church's drive-in service held Easter Sunday in Jackson.Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian

Worshiping within regulations

Many local churches were forced to rely on livestream software and in-church broadcasting systems throughout March to provide church services for members while abiding by safety regulations and government orders issued to encourage social distancing.

While conforming with statewide suggestions for social distancing, one local church attempted to bring everyone together while still keeping everyone apart by delivering Easter goodies Saturday and holding a drive-in Easter service Sunday.

Drivers and volunteers at First Baptist Church in Jackson delivered Easter egg bags to more than 650 children Saturday at more than 250 homes around the area. The next day, the church held its first-ever drive-in Easter celebration.

In some areas of the country, drive-in services were explicitly not allowed, and last week in Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Greg Fischer was sued by On Fire Christian Church after disallowing churches to hold drive-in Easter gatherings.

Gov. Mike Parson issued similar guidelines for Missourians to celebrate Easter at home during news briefings and on social media throughout the week, but according to First Baptist Jackson senior pastor Troy Richards, his church’s local drive-in Easter celebration was directly approved by the governor in an April 3 conference call.

“In a teleconference with [Gov. Parson] we specifically asked, ‘What about drive-in church services?’” Richards said. “... He said as long as everybody practices social distancing measures, he said it was OK.”

Designing the drive-in

Worship and media pastor Daniel Maasen opened the Easter service by leading drive-in churchgoers in Christian music as more than 50 vehicles sat parked in attendance near the intersection of Jefferson and South High streets in Jackson.

Standing inside a nearby building, Maasen’s music traveled through wires and sound boards until it reached a church van packed with radio transmitters and parked in the center of the drive-in worship space.

As he took to his makeshift pulpit — a mechanical scissor lift — the senior pastor was greeted by a chorus of car horns, which drivers used as a means of expressing praise to God during the service.

A laugh could be heard from the vehicularly-contained congregants as the motorized lift buzzed to life, and shortly after, Richards began delivering his Easter sermon to the crowd from 15 feet up, inside the basket of the lift.

By wiring sound cables to the church van, then using the parked vehicle as a radio broadcast point, drive-in churchgoers were able to tune to FM frequency 95.3 and listen to the entire service without as much as rolling down a window, if desired.

Richards said he had seen his share of unordinary Easter celebrations, but this one topped the list.

“It’ll be something we’ll remember forever. ... In the history of the Church, you’ve had a global moment where none of the Church has been able to connect together,” Richards said. “But at the same time, we were able to find ways to worship together.”