Houses of worship in San Antonio find ways to celebrate Easter in the age of coronavirus
Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje April 11, 2020 Updated: April 12, 2020 4:40 p.m.
Houses of worship in San Antonio find ways to celebrate...
1of15Brother Roger Montecalvo, right, presents a communion wafer to Cordi-Marian Sister Gemma Abong during Good Friday services presided by Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on April 10, 2020. The church was largely empty because of restrictions on large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic A nun and two parishioners attended.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
2of15Signs at Sacred Heart Catholic Church notify people to adhere to social distancing guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic. Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of the church, presided over Good Friday services on April 10, 2020, but the church as largely empty because of restrictions on large gatherings where the virus could be transmitted. A nun and two parishioners attended the services, which were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
3of15Darryl Evetts and his wife, Debra, greet people in vehicles at CrossBridge Community Church on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. For two days of Holy Week, CrossBridge set up several stations around its large North Side campus where church members could drive through and receive blessings, prayers and Easter kits for children while avoiding close contact to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff photographer
4of15Pastor Kirk Freeman of CrossBridge Community Church prays for members as they drive through the campus of the North Side church on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. They received blessings and Easter kits for the children while keeping a safe distance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff photographer
5of15Pastor Kirk Freeman of CrossBridge Community Church greets members as they drive through the campus of the North Side church on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. At various stops, they received prayers, blessings and Easter kits for their children.Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff photographer
6of15Bo Carrington of CrossBridge Community Church greets church members as they drive through the campus of the North Side church on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Church members received prayers, blessings and Easter kits for their children while keeping a safe distance and preventing the spread of the coronavirus.Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff photographer
7of15Members of CrossBridge Community Church hand out Easter kits to families at they stop at stations set up on the campus of the North Side church on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. They also received prayers and blessings while not congregating to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.Photo: Billy Calzada /Staff photographer
8of15Musician Rossana Coronado performs for the Good Friday services overseen by Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on April 10, 2020. A nun and two parishioners attended the services, which were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
9of15Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, presides over Good Friday services on April 10, 2020. A nun and two parishioners attended. The services were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
10of15Adan and Irma Rivas, foreground, bow their heads in prayer as Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, conducts Good Friday services on April 10, 2020. The services were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
11of15Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, conducts Good Friday services on April 10, 2020. The church was largely empty, except for a nun and two parishioners, because of restrictions on large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
12of15Father Frederic Mizengo, from right, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, along with Brother Roger Montecalvo conducts Good Friday services as parishioners Adan and Irma Rivas attend on April 10, 2020. The services were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
13of15Parishioner Adan Rivas kneels before a cross held by Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, during Good Friday services on April 10, 2020.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
14of15Cordi-Marian Sister Gemma Abong prays alone during Good Friday services presided by Father Frederic Mizengo, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, on Friday, April 10, 2020. The services were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
15of15Father Frederic Mizengo, center, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, presides over Good Friday services to mostly empty pews on April 10, 2020. The services were livestreamed and recorded for parishioners to watch online.Photo: Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer
At houses of worship across San Antonio, this Easter will mean empty sanctuaries.
No crowds of worshipers raising their voices, uttering prayers and joyous praise. No choirs in special robes singing hymns. No parishioners in their holiday finery milling about, wishing each other a Happy Easter.
The novel coronavirus made sure of it. Many traditions of Easter are on hold, supplanted by restrictions on large gatherings and close contact to ward off the highly contagious virus.
At CrossBridge Community Church, where 1,200 members used to gather on Sundays, a small group of clergy instead will conduct four Easter services to people-less pews, livestreaming to some 5,000 viewers in their homes.
Kirk Freeman, lead pastor of the evangelical congregation on the far North Side, said the church already had added two Sunday services during the pandemic to accommodate an increase in the worshipful online audience.
"In times of crisis, people are hungry for the Lord," he said.
Easter worship services
Places of worship, as well as faith-based organizations, have had to cancel numerous events and make changes to their weekly services amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Most San Antonio-area churches are livestreaming their Easter Sunday services or sharing videotaped worship services on social media and their websites. Some churches and religious organizations have posted prayer devotionals and other materials online.
Some of the services offered:
Community Bible Church will stream its Easter Sunday services at 10 a.m. at onlinechurch.com, where viewers also can find recordings of past services and other programming.
CrossBridge Community Church will stream its Easter Sunday services online at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube and crossbridgecommunitychurch.com
First Presbyterian Church is streaming its Easter Sunday service at 11 a.m. on its mobile app and website, which also has daily prayers and links to podcasts. fpcsanantonio.org/media
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Selma will livestream its Easter Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. in English and at noon in Spanish. olph.org
Pilgrim Center of Hope is airing its "Discover the Journey with Jesus" video series on its YouTube channel and on Facebook.
St. Luke Catholic Church will livestream its Easter Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. in English and at 11:30 a.m. in Spanish. saintlukeparish.com
St. Mary's Catholic Church will open its back entrance through the parking lot for prayer and adoration from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Easter Sunday. 202 N. St. Mary's St.
St. Matthew Catholic Church will offer videotaped Easter Sunday Mass in English and Spanish on its website and Facebook page. stmatts.org.
San Fernando Cathedral will televise its Easter Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. on Catholic Television of San Antonio and will livestream it on YouTube. sfcathedral.org.
For two days during Holy Week, Freeman and his staff set up stations on the campus where congregants could receive prayers, blessings and Easter goodies for children — all from the safety of their cars.
"Happy Easter!" Freeman exclaimed one afternoon, holding his arms wide as a line of vehicles, many filled with parents and their kids, snaked through the quarter-mile circuit.
His wife, Debbie Freeman, stood at his side, enthusiastically waving a palm frond. Greeting the crowd at the start of the circuit were church members and staff wearing funny hats and holding posters proclaiming, "He is risen!"
Around the circuit, about 50 more people stood at 20-foot intervals, most wearing protective masks and keeping a 6-foot separation from the road. Christian-themed rock blared from speakers as drivers honked.
At the first station, prayers were intoned for those in the vehicles. At the next, children received goody bags with Easter "kits" full of worship-related material and prepackaged communion wafers and juice for parents to self-administer in their homes while they watched a Good Friday service livestreamed from the church.
Alisha and Michael Stoll, whose three youngsters stood upright in the back seat, said the church visit was a welcome change.
"This has been such a blessing in a crazy, isolated time," Alisha said.
With so many people experiencing isolation because of the virus, Freeman said the drive-through celebration was meant to instill a sense of community in his flock. His church's services long have been streamed over the internet, but the physical disconnection is something new.
"Some people have been in tears" going through the line, he said. "I think it's because the social interaction is reminding them they do belong to something. That there's a family in Jesus Christ, and they're a part of it."
Gov. Greg Abbott recently declared churches, synagogues and mosques were "essential," and as such could hold in-person religious services, using social distancing and other measures, if remote worship wasn't possible. But local officials have said they believe most religious leaders in Bexar County are adhering to online services to avoid endangering their congregants.
Father Rodolfo Caballero of Prince of Peace Catholic Church is having to stream Mass online, yet he believes this year's sacred Sunday could be even more profound.
"Right now, with all the silence and the churches closed, it is a moment of great triumph if we can truly see how God is working in our lives," he said. "Even amid the silence, God is still speaking."
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Together with a core group of clergy and others, Father Caballero and his flock have been celebrating all the traditional Holy Week and Easter rites online.
During the commemoration of the Lord's passion, a solemn service on Good Friday that honors Jesus' sufferings for the redemption of mankind, a special prayer was offered for those who've been hurt by the coronavirus, and for the health care workers who served them, he said.
"We're doing all the celebrations as if the congregation is present," Caballero said. "For the Eucharist, which we do at every service, we are offering a spiritual communion prayer, since people won't be physically present to receive."
Even with all the chaos around the coronavirus, certain things haven't changed, he said. Priests still are available to receive confessions — with certain restrictions — and to make hospital visits.
Caballero said his Easter sermon will touch on how Jesus' seeming weakness at the crucifixion actually was his greatest glory and strength.
The two Easter Sunday Masses — one at 10 a.m. in English and one at noon in Spanish — can be found at princeofpeacecatholic.org or the church's Facebook page.
The Archdiocese of San Antonio website lists 44 parishes that are livestreaming and there may be even more, said Jordan McMorrough, director of communications. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller has been celebrating Mass every day, the service broadcast on Catholic Television of San Antonio and livestreamed on the various archdiocesan social media outlets, McMorrough said.
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At the historic Antioch Missionary Baptist Church on the East Side, a "bare-bones" group of clergy and staffers is working to provide all the services, Sunday school classes, Bible study groups and other programming church members have come to depend on, said the Rev. Jessica Kemp, minister for children, youth and young adults.
The group has increased livestreaming on the church's website, antiochsat.org/broadcast, since the pandemic emerged.
"No one wants their church to be the place where members become ill because they came for worship," Kemp said. "We want to care for our members, love and uplift them, but also help them stay healthy. Yes, it's going to be tougher this Easter, but God is not confined to the four walls of Antioch Church. The spirit of God is within us."
Her father, Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Kenneth Kemp, who is a pulmonologist at Brooke Army Medical Center, surely will wrap COVID-19 into the theme of his Easter sermon, she said.
"Since the virus started, he always touches on how the virus is affecting our congregation," she said. "With all the anxiety people are feeling, he will say words of encouragement."
Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. To read more from Melissa , become a subscriber. mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje
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Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje has been a reporter for more than 30 years. She began her career as a calendar listings/file clerk at the now-closed San Antonio Light, where she went on to write for the Sunday magazine She then spent eight years writing features for the Houston Chronicle.
She returned to her hometown in 2001 and has worked at the Express-News since then in various capacities – columnist, feature writer, social services reporter. She currently covers general assignments for the Metro section.
She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has won a number of local, state and national journalism awards during her career.
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