Churches adapt to COVID-19 rules for Easter services

With Easter Sunday just days away, Tri-City area residents will celebrate the holiday as they have in the past, although in different circumstances due to COVID-19, which has limited the way worship services can be held.
Three area religious leaders offered their messages on both Easter Sunday and COVID-19.
The Rev. Brice Higginbotham of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Morgan City said the world will experience “the joy of Easter.” However, he said the world must experience “the humility of the pain of Good Friday” in order to really get the joy that Easter brings.
“May we, tomorrow, have the best Good Friday we’ve ever had — with prayer and penance and fasting,” Higginbotham said. “And may our hearts being torn open in Good Friday repentance lead us to shout our Easter ‘Alleluia!’ from the depths of our souls!”
The Rev. Mo Seneca of Lighthouse Community Church in Berwick said his Easter Sunday message to his congregation is “We Win.”
“Easter Sunday is kind of just a culmination of all the promises that God made and he kept through his son Jesus,” Seneca said. “When Jesus defeated death, that’s the biggest win ever.
“It was bigger than LSU stopping the losing streak against Bama this year. It was bigger than us winning the (college football) national championship. It was an undefeated foe when it came to death, because that was kind of always a period for mankind.”
However, he said Easter Sunday reminds people that by Jesus winning over death, the world wins, too.
The Rev. Steven Kelly of Bayou Vista Baptist Church said that he is focusing on the “personal nature of Easter” this year.
Kelly said that in the Easter story, Jesus encountered people on a one-on-one basis.
“At the grave, he encountered Mary Magdalene, and then … later on, he meets with the disciples,” Kelly said. “He encounters Peter personally. He encourages Thomas to touch his hands and to feel his side, and so ultimately, Easter’s for everybody.”
However, Kelly said the world must “encounter it personally.”
As for COVID-19, the religious leaders had messages explaining that this period will not endure forever, the need to have faith in God and how God can do good things even during a pandemic.
“This COVID-19 did not come as a surprise to God,” Seneca said. “I’m not saying he caused it, but what I am saying is he can use it for good. He can work things out in a way that we can grow, that we can get through this.”
Kelly noted that disease has existed throughout time, even back to the Old Testament.
“I kind of addressed how God doesn’t take away what troubles us,” Kelly said. “He provides us a solution on another level.”
Kelly also stressed that God gives the world faith to endure this time.
Higginbotham said that people should be grateful, be safe and keep in mind that this pandemic will not endure for eternity.
He said that people should be happy for what they have been blessed with, such as family, friends and the great weather. He also said the community should be safe by following government leaders’ advice.
“These things are an act of love for the sick, for our healthcare workers (and) for those others who otherwise keep us safe, fed and connected,” Higginbotham said of the means to stay safe.
When overwhelmed, he said the world needs to keep in mind that this pandemic will not endure forever.
“God will work in our lives,” Higginbotham said. “God is working in our lives — even (and perhaps especially) in this time of pandemic. May we receive His blessings, love our neighbors and come out stronger on the other side of these difficult times.”