By Ethan Foster
TUPELO, Miss. (Take 30 News) ---- West Jackson Street Baptist Church in Tupelo recently celebrated Easter with no members in the pews, marking the first time for many that the pews were empty on Resurrection Sunday.
The Center for Disease Control has classified “social distancing” as staying 6 feet away from other people, not gathering in groups, and staying out of crowded places. Many states, like Georgia and Mississippi, have ordered their residents to “shelter in place” for a certain amount of time to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
In keeping with the CDC’s guidelines and Governor Tate Reeves’s “shelter in place” order, West Jackson decided to continue to stream its services online, even in light of what many Christians refer to as their most important holiday, Easter.
Worship Pastor Todd Mordecai is responsible for organizing the music and preparing the choir and orchestra to perform large holiday productions to celebrate at times like Easter and Christmas. Because of the social distancing, this year looked slightly different.
“Here at West Jackson, we’ve had the privilege of doing big Easter cantatas with a choir and all those types of things,” Mordecai said. “Unfortunately, all the things that we’ve practiced this year are not going to take place because of the guidelines.”
Nevertheless, Mordecai was there Sunday morning to sing songs of praise with a small band and a few accompanying singers. He said that although the large production that the church was used to did not take place, the underlying message was still clear.
“The reason for the season is still the same and the love in our hearts for our Savior and Lord will be glorified through the music for Easter Sunday,” Mordecai said with hope.
On a regular Sunday, West Jackson will see a bout 500 to 600 people. But since moving the services online, the church has counted up to 1,000 viewers a Sunday.
Just down the road about 15 minutes is Faith Baptist Church in Saltillo, Mississippi, a smaller church of about 200 on a weekly basis, held a similar Easter service, with what Pastor Phil Ellis called a, “skeleton crew.”
Like Mordecai, Ellis said that despite the pandemic, Easter came and would be celebrated regardless of the circumstances.
“Nothing stops history. Nothing stops the truth from happening,” Ellis said.
What both pastors seemed to agree on most aside from the reason for Easter being the same, is that the quarantine has caused people to step back and appreciate the things in life that matter most. For Ellis, that meant church members realizing how important their church bodies were to them.
“I feel certain that when we get cranked back up to whatever normal is for us, people will have a newfound commitment to their church family,” Ellis said, “and to want to worship and to see the blessing that it is to gather with their church family on Sunday.”
Mordecai said he believes that people have realized and remembered the importance of their spiritual lives and their home lives and that those two things in conjunction would make all the difference once the pandemic has come to an end.
“I think that as a society and as a whole, through this pandemic, we’ve all searched our hearts to see what the most important things are. Those most important things that each and every one of us have found – it’s God first and family,” Mordecai said. “All the other things we do, they just, they seem not to matter nearly as much. And I think that society will restructure because of that.”