The houses of worship on this Easter Sunday will be in the homes of the worshippers, as the stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic prohibit people from gathering in order prevent the spread of the virus.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, is not keeping churches on the South Coast from celebrating the most important day on the Christian calendar.
They’re using technology to serve their congregations.
The celebration hosted by Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara at the Courthouse Sunken Gardens, one of the largest Easter services held in the area, will be conducted online at Calvarysb.com, and on KEYT television at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Other churches also have set up streaming platforms for congregants to watch and worship from home.
“We have a message of hope for people who are living in these uncertain times,” said Calvary Chapel Pastor Tommy Schneider of this year’s theme. “We believe that the message of Jesus will transform lives, and bring the hope and healing we need.
“The Bible shows that there is a great disease in humanity, and that is sin,” he added. “Sin is a greater threat to humanity than any contagion. Jesus knows what we are going through as a world with COVID-19, and He cares. He showed us that he cares by giving us life beyond death.
“The message I will be sharing will give hope beyond the grave, because the grave did not hold Jesus, and when we believe in him with faith, He promised to raise us up too. If you know Jesus, you will go to heaven when you die.”
Santa Barbara Community Church normally meets at Santa Barbara City College.
“Obviously that plan, along with most other plans these days, are out the window,” said pastor Mike Willbanks. “We have been posting pre-recorded worship services online during the past few weeks and will do so this Sunday for Easter as well.
“Our Easter service will include music, a message about the hope that we can have because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection from the dead, and a personal testimony from one of our members about how God has changed their life.”
“Even though this season is unique in many ways, our hope is that we can find creative ways to care for people’s spiritual and material needs during this pandemic,” Willbanks said. “Loneliness, joblessness, fear and other conditions that are exacerbated by this crisis all demand that churches step up, lean in, and do all we can to come alongside one another and the larger Santa Barbara community in tangible ways.
“Certainly, this season has been unlike any other that any of us have ever lived through and we are all learning about how to adapt and adjust as we go.”
Reality Santa Barbara Church will live stream its Easter Service at its website at 10 a.m.
“We are trying to stay connected and care for our church body using technology,” said Pastor Alan Pugh. “We have smaller gatherings called Home Groups that meet via Zoom on weeknights, men’s and women’s Bible studies, prayer meetings gathering the same way.
“We see God working in powerful ways in the midst of these challenging circumstances.”
First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara will do a full liturgical Easter service online through its site. The 10 a.m. service will include music with trumpets, organ and a choir.
“One of our long-standing traditions is decorating a cross with live flowers on Easter morning, which then serves as a beautiful backdrop for family photos,” said Denise Rodman, church business administrator. “To celebrate this, we have invited our congregants to send us photos, either of past Easters or a current one, with flowers, and this will be put into a slide show that will precede the worship service.”
The Santa Barbara Mission will live stream an Easter mass at 9 a.m. on its Facebook Page. The Mass from the Serra Chapel will feature music from the Parish Schola.
Free Methodist is doing services on its YouTube channel. The Easter program will feature scripture readings, celebratory music, a sermon and Easter praises from some its congregants, starting at 9:30 a.m.
“During these times, more than ever, churches need to reach out to people using all the means available,” said Pastor Colleen Hurley-Bates. “Online connections are a necessity, yet people are talking more on the phone than they have in years.
“The church in many ways feels more personal in this time, as we are intentionally reaching out to support one another, making sure everyone is doing well and offering opportunities to serve here and around the globe.”
Benjamin Hanson, interim music director at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal in Montecito, said the church isn’t equipped to livestream, but is posting a pre-recorded service and the bulletin at its website that will be available to everyone by Easter.
At Trinity Episcopal, Easter Sunday service is being conducted thourgh the online video conferencing platform Zoom at 10 a.m.
“We’ve invited people to do “Holy Week at Home” and asked them to make a space in their homes, a kind of altar, where they’ll gather the symbols related to our worship this week: palms, water, bread, crosses, candles, flowers, and so on,” said Rev. Elizabeth Molitors.
Information about service times and how to participate can be found at Trinity’s website and on its Facebook and Instagram pages.
“We’ve been referring to our church during this time as, ‘Trinity in diaspora,’ meaning that though we are not able to meet in our church building, we are still a practicing community of faith, but we are dispersed,” Molitors said.
In a letter to the congregation, she wrote: “During this pandemic, we are in the grip of the ‘force of strangeness’ as we realize that the well-being of our world and of our private lives rests not in the portfolios of the billionaire CEOs, but in the hands of the farm workers, the fast food employees, the grocery store shelf stockers, and the truck drivers.
“Though it has always been true, it’s now strangely clear that my life is inextricably linked with yours and billions of strangers around the world, and that we’ll get through this time only with trust and generosity.”
Pastor Jake Barker of Mission City Church is doing two services online at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“There will be great music, relevant teaching, fun videos and an online chat, too,” said Barker.
Our Lady Mt. Carmel Church on East Valley Road in Montecito will be streaming an Easter Service, with Father Lawrence Seyer officiating at 10 a.m.
“Father Seyer has been offering beautiful services for Holy Week, quite inspiring in these harsh days,” said the church.
Hope Community Church is offering an interactive online Easter event on its Facebook page and YouTube channel at 10 a.m. The celebration will include live music, an encouraging message and lots of surprises, including a virtual Easter egg hunt for the kids.
The online service at First United Methodist Church will include videos of Rev. Dr. Mark Richardson’s sermon “A Long, Loving Look at the Real” and Rev. Dr. Alan Strout’s pastoral prayer.
Audio links include music by the children singing, “He Lives,” and the Chancel Choir, led by Nathan Krietzer singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” with Brass Ensemble. There is also an arrangement of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” for choir and congregation. Dr. Raymond Egan accompanies on the piano and pipe organ.
Anthem Chapel in Goleta, which normally meets at Goleta Valley Junior High, is going online at 9 a.m., with a special ARK Kids program, featuring Ranger Rhett, followed by a service at 9:30 a.m. on live.anthemchapel.com or our YouTube Channel.
Goleta’s Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will have its Easter service available for viewing on Saturday evening. The service includes music by Adam Phillips and Mandee Sikitch, with liturgy and sermon by Pastor Keith Jones. The video will have captioned liturgy and song lyrics, along with prelude and postlude music.
The congregants of New Life Church at 50 E. Alamar are gathering online at 10:30 a.m. at its website and on its Facebook Live link, said Pastor Dale Swanson.
Jennifer Somerville, the youth and family director at Unity of Santa Barbara, said the church’s youth ministry is offering services for youth ages 2-12 on the video conference platform Zoom. The Zoom log-in is available by contacting Somerville via email at jennifer@santabarbaraunity.org.
The Calvary Chapel service will include music by its worship band, led by Worship Pastor Adam Cappa.
“The songs are fantastic and the band sounds so good,” Schneider raved. “We’re confident that people will be able to worship right from their home.”
Pastors Daniel Hendrickson and Zak Shellabarger will offer the opening and closing remarks.
“They will welcome everyone in and close it up at the end with some encouragement on what it means to begin a life of following Jesus.”
Calvary Chapel has been holding its regular services on three online platforms: calvarysb.com/live, YouTube and Facebook.
“Our church family has been showing up online every week and engaging through the chat features,” said Schneider. “We have seen an increase in our online attendance since we started online services. We have seen each week an increase with people tuning in. Last Sunday we had 1200 viewers across three platforms.
“We expect to see many more on Easter Sunday and are praying that only continues to rise as people hear the great truths of the Bible right in their homes.”
Other churches that would like to be included in this story can send information to news@noozhawk.com.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.