Easter Sunday is typically a holiday spent surrounded by loved ones. In an effort to uphold CDC guidelines while celebrating, many churches around the Valley held drive-in services.
“To be honest I was thinking Lord how is this going to turn out. How is it going to work," says Denise Dorris, a member of United Nations Ministries. Her skepticism quickly faded away despite the new approach.
In order to maintain social distancing, the United Nations congregation gathered safely in or at least near their cars. "As you saw I was hanging out of the car because it’s so uncontainable," says member Sharron Bettis.
The church typically sees nearly 300 members on Easter Sunday. This year's celebration was far from the typically jam-packed service. “Music would be blaring. People would be hugging. People would be jumping. There would be smiles. You would just feel a high level of energy," says Pastor Charl McRae.
Pastor McRae hopes the gathering will give people strength and hope to continue quarantining adding, "Just being able to get out of the house, still stay safe and do something you love that means the world to you is almost like a big reset button."
While the energy or setting was nowhere near normal, Dorris says, "Faith says no matter what it looks like you still believe and so we believe it. We don’t have to be in the four walls because we are the church."
