PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Easter services at churches across the region do not look like they did in years past. But some churches are using the day to bring back in-person worship, something many of them had to pause during the pandemic.
For the last year, many of Rev. Dr. Leslie Robin Harrison's Sunday services have been digital.
But she was able to preach to dozens of people in person at the 89th annual Easter outdoor sunrise service at Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
"Even though we're masked up and can't see the smiles, I can still hear the call and response," said Harrison. "That's what kind of tradition I'm from and so it was just wonderful to see their eyes and their body language, just to know that they were receiving the message."
Harrison focused her sermon on a part in the Christian Easter story where the stone was removed from Jesus Christ's tomb.
"God is removing stones for us right now even during this pandemic," she preached. "God is making a way out of no way, so that we don't have to lose hope, we can keep trusting in the Lord."
This is the first time the non-denominational service was held since 2019. It was cancelled last year due to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Bishop Stacey Roberts, pastor of Greater Community Bible Tabernacle in West Philadelphia opened his church doors this Easter morning for an in-person, socially distant, masked-up service.
That's something he has not been able to do over the last year, and something his sermon reflected as he also talked about Christ's rise from the grave.
"What we've been through over the last year, for some of us, feels like entombment," he said. "We feel like we've been entombed in our homes, away from school, entombed in our local places and can't wait to get back into community."
Roberts' message also offered some Easter hope that he related to the pandemic.
"Even that entombment has a time limit," he said. "We're not going to be in this forever. Christ was not in the tomb forever. There was a specific time limit."