Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

With live streamed services and social distancing, it is sure to be an Easter Sunday unlike any other.

Area churches will continue doing what they can in the face of this as they look to bring hope in a time of uncertainty.

Father James Steffes of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church has grown accustomed to holding mass by himself in a church that usually holds 700 people. It’s hard for him to share the word of God when his parishioners are so far away.

“It’s mixed emotions,” Steffes said. “When I celebrate mass, it’s still the sacrifice of Christ and it’s still very fulfilling, but there is a part of me that misses my congregation. I miss my people, but I still enjoy celebrating the mass and I’m still nurturing my people.”

The Easter mass at St. Augustine’s will have an opportunity for a bigger audience as it will be broadcast live on KSMQ Public Television at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday with repeats at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. The service will also be shown on St. Augustine’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Steffes is hoping the broadcast can give people a sense of the Easter holiday in a time of need.

“It’s to rejoice and give people hope with the celebration of the resurrection of our lord,” Steffes said. “What we’re in the midst of is devastating and serious, but it is momentary and it will pass. Christ’s resurrection is forever. We need to keep our eyes on the Lord and trust in Him. Some people are suffering physically, financially and emotionally. This is an opportunity to turn to the Lord and renew our faith in Christ Jesus.”

Westminster Presbyterian Church has always held a big Easter celebration that features a big Easter egg hunt, but this year Senior Pastor Mike Olmsted will be leading the celebration in a much different way. The Sunday service will be livestreamed on Facebook.

“(Not having our Easter celebration) has been one of the hard things that we’ve cancelled with the reality of life,” Olmsted said. “The blessing is that we’ve learned how to livestream on Facebook and we’ll have our virtual Easter service on Sunday.”

The Westminster Presbyterian Church has been able to celebrate the season by getting involved in the community in creative ways. There have been “Take a Knee At Noon” prayer sessions, daily phone calls, sidewalk visits, and daily devotionals online.

With the shelter-in-place order pushed to May 4 earlier this week, Olmsted said that he has grown accustomed to the adjustments the church has had to make. However, those changes did cause Easter to sneak up on him a little bit as many of the celebrations that usually take place have been shelved.

“There is a new focus on Easter this year. I had to remind myself that we’re in Holy Week because a lot of the regular things that we normally do we’re not doing,” Olmsted said. “But it’s given me the opportunity to focus more on the real meaning of Easter. Christ had come for all of us and he had come to give hope. The message of hope is one right now that we all need to hear. I think Easter has come at the perfect time this year, in light of the virus and in light of the situation. It’s a real blessing.”