'A Great Sight To See': Church Parking Lots Fill For Outdoor Services On Easter Sunday
BOSTON (CBS) -- From the pulpit to the parking lot, worshippers gathered on Sunday in many different ways and styles to celebrate Easter. Some folks were just looking for a sense of normalcy again.
"It's been a hard year. So I think in general, anything that's normal and that you can still participate in is great," said Miriam Miller of Sudbury.
At St. Anselm Church in Sudbury, parishioners greeted each other with a distanced wave and a holy honk as service was celebrated inside their cars and on the radio.
"It's definitely different, but it's the best we can do. We have two little boys and we're trying to keep them safe as we can and still make sure we can get them raised in the church," said Bill Stuart of Framingham.
At Grace Chapel in Lexington, they normally have about 5,000 worshippers on Easter Sunday. For the second year in a row, they had to pivot to sunrise service in the parking lot and full service online.
"We've learned to adapt and recognize that church is not about buildings and church is not about events. It's about people and messages and being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. We've taken ourselves out into our communities. We're involved in food banks, community agencies and vaccination clinics," said Grace Chapel Senior Pastor Wilkerson.
According to Wilkerson, they plan to begin in-person services in mid-June, but for now, it's online orchestras and communion in cars.
"It was a great sight, to pull up and see people flocking to church again," Pastor Wilkerson said. "Easter is about life on the other side of death. Hope on the other side of disappointment. Goodness on the other side of evil. And if ever the world needed a message like that, of hope and new beginnings and better things, it's in April 2021."