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For many Christians, a visit to see the Easter bunny, a holiday church service, and a family meal are staples of the holy holiday.
This year, God had different plans.
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Due to COVID-19, public gatherings are cancelled, churches are going virtual, and social distancing likely means you’re staying away from family you don’t live with.
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Online and on public access TV, Catholic worshipers from the St. Mark Catholic Church parish were able to watch Easter mass from afar. Father Dennis Mooney even presented communion from a distance across screens of borough residents.
First Presbyterian Church of Levittown on Emilie Road in Bristol Township posted their Easter service to YouTube as an “eService.” The video featured readings, lessons, and music recorded on cell phones and webcams.
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Pastor Mike Murray, who leads Grace Fellowship Levittown on Haines Road in Bristol Township, shared the gospel with his congregation on Facebook Live.
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“It’s obviously different not being in person. It’s not as warm and satisfying without human contact,” he told LevittownNow.com.
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Murray, who works as a nurse at St. Mary Medical Center, understands the reason the congregation cannot meet in person, but has worked to make the church family feel as comfortable as they can with online services.
“It has been a good and wise thing to do,” he said. “We will be separate for a time.”
As Sunday services moved online, the church delivered hymn books to some members to allow them to take part.
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Murray said it was a bit easier to get everybody ready and to church on time with services taking place from their home. With a chuckle, he said his son still needed some encouragement to be ready on time.
Stephen Grosso and his family in Penndel Borough have been looking forward to celebrating Easter, but COVID-19 and mitigation measures made it a bit different this year.
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“As Christians we look forward to not only celebrating with our family but with our church family also,” he said. “This year we were not able to do either of those things as we have done in the past. Instead of going to our church and celebrating the resurrection of our savior with our church family, we watched the service at Core Creek Church in Langhorne on YouTube from our own living room.”
Grosso did note that celebrating Easter from home was a “little less stressful” than usual.
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“There was no getting up early to dress nicely for Easter Sunday and no car ride with traffic. However, with that being said we would still prefer to celebrate the resurrection with our family and church family,” he stated.
“Our dinner went from about twenty loud Italians to five very well fed Italians and the normal watching of sports on TV was replaced by some lawn work and the entire family watching ‘Jesus’ from the TBN network.”
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For many kids and their parents, seeing the Easter bunny is a staple of the season.
The Croydon Fire Company brought the Easter Bunny around the section of Bristol Township on the back of a fire truck as a community service.
In parts of Levittown and Langhorne, Easter Bunnies were seen waving at kids outside their homes from passing vehicles on Saturday and Sunday.
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Kim Rock, a realtor whose office is based in Middletown, helped bring the Easter Bunny around parts of the area.
“Since this year kids didn’t even get a chance to see Easter Bunnies at local farms and malls, I thought why not buy an Easter Bunny costume and drive around the neighborhood so everyone can stay socially distant on their lawns but the kids still can celebrate Easter and have a little normalcy in an otherwise abnormal world,” she said.
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Rock’s husband drove and her two kids threw candy at their peers.
“It was amazing seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and their excitement as we approached. It was heartwarming for us all,” she stated.
COVID-19 is almost certain to ease by next Easter and things are expected to return normal.
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“If there was one thing we noticed from celebrating the resurrection this year during the COVID-19 pandemic is that we hear people ask Christians why they still believe in a God that they cannot see, but yet they have had their lives completely turned upside down by a virus they cannot see, touch or smell,” he said.
Murray, the Bristol Township pastor, said he hopes to return to the physical church in the coming weeks as the pandemic subsides. Although, he noted, some safety measures like face masks may stick for some time.
“The bible teaches that the church is made up of the people and not made up of the building,” he said. “God comes to live inside of us as believers.”
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