‘In an “Easter vigil” spot right now’

Easter Sunday celebrations on the Palouse will continue — even if remotely — despite the effects of COVID-19.

At local churches, worship services have been moved online with the goal of maintaining community for one of the most important weekends of the church calendar.

The Rev. Karen Schomburg, interim vicar of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Moscow, said she has been in the process of helping the congregation focus on what matters most and letting the rest go since January. She said people throughout the world are currently adjusting their priorities and learning to let go of things that aren’t as important as originally thought to be.

She said this interim time for the community is a time of meditation and contemplation, with virtual worship and virtual coffee hours providing some hope. At St. Mark’s, a YouTube video will provide an Easter vigil reading to help the congregation remember and celebrate the new life created from loss, death and suffering, she said.

“We all feel really lost and are in an ‘Easter vigil’ spot right now in our lives,” Schomburg said. “We value the opportunity to be in that sweet little church, it is like a second home.”

She said the church also has a phone tree set up to ensure every member of the congregation gets a phone call check-in to see how they are doing during this time. She said the goal is to build community in this new, virtual way and prioritize loving God and thy neighbor.

At Real Life Pullman, the Rev. Thad DeBuhr said similarly to other churches, he has jumped through hoops to get up to speed on new technology and tools to stream church services online. For Easter Sunday, service is at 10:30 a.m., including worship, prayer reflection and communion.

Further, Easter egg hunt kits were distributed Thursday and Friday for drive by pick-up. He said the eggs are stuffed with prizes and candy to bless families with some fun.

He said there are also a variety of groups meeting via online video chats for support, encouragement and prayer requests to offer some positivity during this stressful time. Many people are lost in the drama of COVID-19, suffering from cabin fever and isolation, who need a resource, he said.

“As a church, we are going to be offering some online webinars and large group classes where as many as several hundred people can participate to put out resources about communication, relationships, parenting, etc.,” DeBuhr said. “We are working toward more connection and calling and checking in on each other so real people are following up with people who live in their community.”

Moscow site pastor Mathew Young of Resonate Church, a collegiate-based congregation, said Easter Sunday is the fourth Sunday of being online. He said they had to move pretty quickly to figure out how to do a solid online gathering and he is thankful for the help of talented people.

He said there are three online services every Sunday at 10:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., each about an hour long. He said everything has been good, with people joining from all over the Northwest and families and friends of Moscow church-goers able to join services now.

“We recognize consuming a service on Sunday morning isn’t necessarily being connected to a church,” Young said. “Small groups are also happening over Zoom right after services to connect more personally to talk and play digital games together.”

He said research shows humans are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, even before COVID-19. With the addition of stay at home laws, he said the hope is to create opportunities to help people get connected to another human. Services can be found at resonate.net/live.

Easter egg hunts

Eastside Marketplace is providing an opportunity to keep Easter traditions alive while their annual egg hunt is canceled. In place of the hunt, property manager JT Manning said free plastic eggs are available for curbside pick-up at four Moscow locations for community members to make memories at home. The eggs can be found at Safeway, Wingers Road House Grill, Le Petit Café Fleuri and Lavender & Thyme.

Charlie Stefani, president of the Moscow Lions Club, said their annual Easter egg hunt has unfortunately been canceled for the first time in years. He said he is excited to continue it next year.

The yearly Pullman Easter egg hunt has also been canceled by Pullman Parks and Recreation, including the financial and volunteer support from service group Pullman Kiwanis. There is an effort to have children draw and color pictures of eggs to put in their front windows as something special for Easter, Barbara Petura said.

Allison Spain is a journalism student at the University of Idaho. She’s writing feature stories for the Daily News this spring. Send Allison story ideas to editor@dnews.com.