Church Takes Annual Easter Egg Hunt Into The World Of Minecraft As Families Stay At Home For Holiday Weekend
ELK GROVE, Calif. (CBSNewYork) -- As lots of families are making Easter plans for the weekend, one church is finding a creative way to build community this holiday season while being quarantined.
Sun Grove Church children's director Melisa Colby says this year's Easter egg hunt will be a little different because of coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
"It was one of those things where it's like, we were bummed that we weren't able to do it, so we thought this was a great option to get in Minecraft in the virtual world," Colby told CBS2's Charlie Cooper.
Sun Grove says it's the biggest Minecraft Easter egg hunt ever built, featuring a castle, secret passages and, of course, lots of hidden eggs.
It was created by youth ministry students in the church.
"It meets the kids right on their level. So many kids are into Minecraft, they're in that virtual world, building and creating, and they can log in and see their friends and it's just another way to connect," Colby said.
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The Lingo family plans to take part in the virtual event, believing it will be a nice way to connect with others after weeks of being away from friends and extended family.
"Easter is so different this year. We usually get together with our family and do a big celebration, so we were looking for ways to make it still fun this year and something that the kids could be excited about, so this just brought another element, brought something new and different and something for them to be excited about," mom Katie Lingo said.
"They have buddies that all love Minecraft, so they're able to connect and work together," dad Matthew Lingo said.
"I love Easter egg hunts and I also love Minecraft, so together combined it's going to be really fun," son Jackson Lingo said.
Parents are also encouraged to join in on the fun or use the free time in other ways.
"Mom and dad are just happy that they're going to be able to celebrate Easter, and we get a little break for about an hour on Saturday, so this worked out perfectly," Matthew Lingo said.
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The hunt starts at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday.
You can register and participate in the event from anywhere in the world by going to Sungrove.org/minecraft.