Empty at Easter

Christmas arguably gets more attention.

But Easter is the cornerstone.

Faith that Jesus was crucified and the rose from the dead is the foundation on which Christianity is built.

During this Holy Week, Christians of all denominations are commemorating Maundy Thursday, solemnifying Good Friday and celebrating Easter Sunday in new ways as they are unable to congregate in their churches because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“You miss that engagement,” said Asbury United Methodist Church pastor Allison Yankey, who along with her staff is now recording services from their respective homes. “You miss the response from people. You miss those casual conversations in the hallway. You have to be so intentional to interact with each other right now because you don’t just casually see one another.”

Guidance from health and government officials regarding large gatherings began in early March, first at various numbers ranging from 100 to 250. It was later bumped down to 50, and now stay-at-home orders in Indiana and Ohio limit gatherings to 10 or fewer. In response, most churches have temporarily eliminated in-person services.

Some have simply not been meeting at all since those guidelines went into effect. But at least 20 local churches have shifted to virtual formats using Facebook, YouTube, Zoom and other video streaming apps. Among those are The Rock Church, Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church and the other churches in the Fort Recovery cluster, and Asbury.

All three of those will offer various Holy Week services beginning today.

Asbury, via Zoom, will hold a Maundy Thursday service this evening with a short meditation, discussion in small groups and a short prayer at the end.

“Maundy Thursday is so much about presence and being present around the table and being able to touch and interact with one another,” said Yankey, referencing The Last Supper. “And so it’s really hard to translate that.”

For Good Friday, several pastors from across the state, including Gil Alicea of West Walnut Street Church of Christ in Portland, are holding a Tenebrae Service with each pastor recording a reading from scripture and the extinguishing of candles. Those will be posted by the participating churches at 6 p.m.

Sunday’s Easter service, which will be recorded in advance, will be similar to what Yankey’s congregation has seen over the last couple of weeks, with the addition of a joint music piece featuring two local performers and two from First United Methodist Church in Auburn.

Mary Help of Christians will stream all of its Holy Week services live, beginning with Holy Thursday today. It will be similar to a traditional Holy Thursday service, but without the traditional washing of feet because only clergy will be in attendance.

Good Friday will feature Stations of the Cross at 3 p.m., and there will be an Easter Vigil at 9 p.m. Saturday. The vigil will include all of the typical readings but music will be limited to the priest singing.

“It should be interesting,” the Rev. Ned Brown joked.

Sunday’s Easter Mass will begin at 9:30 a.m.

The Rock will focus on two Holy Week services, the first at 5:30 p.m. Friday via Zoom. (It will be recorded and posted on Facebook and the church’s website for those who cannot attend.) The congregation will be “walking through the scripture” from Maundy Thursday through the crucifixion and have time for Communion together.

Sunday’s service, which will be recorded Thursday, will be posted at 10 a.m.

“It will look very similar to what our services have looked like during this time of being apart from each other,” said Pastor Matt Ransom.

While not being able to get together with their congregations in person is difficult, both Ransom and Yankey said there are parallels to be found between the current situation and what Jesus’ disciples were dealing with following his death.

“This year for Easter, we kind of get to celebrate like the very first Easter,” said Ransom. “The very first Easter wasn’t celebrated in a church. The disciples were all together in a room, very much like we’re going to be in living rooms all across the area. …

“As much as we like to be together … there’s an interesting perspective on this. We get to taste what the disciples were feeling. There’s this mix of fear that they were under a little bit with the circumstances that were surrounding everything …”

Yankey hit on a similar theme, saying after Jesus’ death the disciples would have been left wondering what was next.

“So to be in the space where there’s heightened fear, anxiety, concern and worry, it’s a lot easier to identify with the disciples who were hiding and kind of terrified in that upper room,” said Yankey. It’s an opportunity, she added, “to figure out how we can connect what’s going on in our lives to the Biblical story, and how do we find hope even in the midst of uncertainty.”

On one hand, it’s disappointing for local religious leaders to not be able to be with their congregations during the most important week on the calendar for Christians.

But while they're not together in person, they remain together in spirit, they said.

“They’re not forgotten,” said Brown. “We carry them in our hearts. We’re praying for them and we’re praying for their families, that they stay safe and that they are growing closer together as families …”

Added Ransom: “The church can be the church without being together.”