
Passover, easter celebrations adapt to coronavirus rules
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:

"I would say that when you have a 101-year-old church member who is on that Zoom call listening to that musical meditation, and at the end of it saying, ‘This is wonderful. I'm so
glad to be in touch this way,’ you're like: ‘The world is a pretty cool place.'" But it has also added duties for staff. "I guess everyone's contract in any job
always has ‘other duties assigned as necessary,'” Tutt says. “And so, my staff and I, we're like, ‘I can do a funeral, I can officiate at your wedding. I can baptize your baby —
and I can provide tech support for Zoom.' Technology is bringing higher attendance than in-person services, he says, partly because people who otherwise couldn't come or who have
moved way can connect. YOGA AND ‘QUARAN-TIVITIES' At Grace Cathedral, a popular Episcopal church in San Francisco, the church has adapted in other ways online. Things like
live-streaming and podcasts and have become the new norm — for everything from morning prayers to Bible studies and even yoga. On Easter, streaming will include a quartet of men from the
cathedral choir singing beloved hymns. At Abundant Life, a Southern Baptist megachurch in Lee's Summit, Missouri, with a weekly attendance of 2,000, pastors are hosting “church at home”
videos with “quaran-tivities” for teaching, worship and prayer during this time of COVID-19. The church also has a robust social media presence on Facebook and Instagram in addition to
live-streaming weekend services. The strategy is similar at Bayside Community Church, a nondenominational megachurch in Bradenton, Florida, where Facebook church campus groups have grown
into virtual watch parties. "COVID-19, it's kept all of us glued to our TVs, our computers and our devices, and I want to continue to ask you, whatever the CDC and our government,
local and national, are saying, just adhere to those regulations, and let's be safe,” Lead Pastor Randy Bezet told his followers in a video this week. "God is opening up ways for
us,” he says, “and I think that through all this, in this very difficult time, our church is really going to grow and thrive.