Americans unite in prayer at huge drive-in Easter Sunday services and virtual blessings
THOUSANDS of Americans joined each other in prayer at drive-in Easter Sunday services as coronavirus lockdowns continue throughout the US.
Churches around the country held drive-in Easter services to celebrate the holiday, with some even live-streaming their Sunday morning mass.
Hundreds of parishioners in Florida practiced social distancing Sunday morning while worshipping in a massive drive-in service at the Daytona Beach Drive-in Christian Church.
Although Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order to curb the spread of coronavirus April 1, the order doesn’t stop churches from holding services on Easter, according to NBC News.
South Floridians packed the parking lot of the Happy Gospel Center Church in Bradenton to celebrate the holiday together.
Pastor Bill Bailey prayed outside with his congregation, all of whom maintained appropriate social distance during the outside mass.
He also preached and sang songs to churchgoers listening from inside their parked cars.
Worshippers in Mississippi defied Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons recent order banning drive-in church services to pray at Temple Baptist Church.
Several upset parishioners were fined $500 a piece for violating the order to attend the Easter Sunday drive-in service, which was promptly shut down by police.
Temple Baptist is now suing the city, claiming that “the governor’s order includes no such ban and identifies churches as an ‘essential business or operation’.”
Hundreds of “brothers and sisters” in Virginia gathered at the Dominion Raceway to listen to choir songs and prayer from inside their cars.
Churchgoers gathered amid news that the state recorded 197 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bumping up the overall number of infections to 5,274 statewide, according to WSLS.
“Worshipping with hundreds of my brothers and sisters in cars as we gather at the Dominion Raceway in Virginia,” tweeted Rev. Patrick Mahoney, who shared a video of the serene scene down South.
“The church of Jesus Christ will not be silent!”
Those who weren’t able to attend drive-thru services live-streamed services from their home, like Peter Lando.
Lando and his family watched Easter mass from the living room of their Massachusetts home.
In New York, First Presbyterian Elder Gaitley Stevenson Matthews used Facebook to live-stream the service he held at the home of parishioner Alba Gamble.
Groups of people sat spaced out in front of the Lincoln Memorial to sing an Easter hymn while watching the sun rise in Washington D.C.
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Americans heeded President Donald Trump’s warning to continue practicing social distancing to “get rid of the plague” on Easter Sunday.
This year’s holiday “will be much different that others” because of the outbreak, Trump said.
But he praised the US for “winning the war” agains the killer virus before wishing Americans around the country a happy Easter.
“Celebrate, bring the family together like no other, we have a lot to be thankful for,” he said.
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