A week ago a lot of us thought we would only need to hunker down for a few weeks with the promise of singing our loud, collective “Hosanna!” in our sanctuaries come Palm Sunday. But that reality is gone now. Just this week, many government officials have announced shelter-in-place orders through Easter. How do we imagine the largest church services of the year in a time of social distancing? It’s not easy. It’s certainly disappointing. But we’re here to help. Here are some more ideas about being the church during the COVID-19 pandemic, with particular attention to Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. We will continue to add to this list as we learn and adapt.

Creativity and Embodiment in Online Worship

Music

Now is a great time to invite musical gifts from those in your congregation, especially children and youth, who would normally feel out of place or nervous in front of the gathered congregation. Have people record themselves singing or playing a song and integrate it into your worship. You can also find a wide variety of musicians on YouTube performing music that would be a beautiful addition to your worship.

• Resource: Singing Through The Wilderness YouTube playlist

Sacred space

We’ve been inspired by many people in our Facebook group and beyond who have shown how they’ve prepared their worship spaces at home. One church even sent their congregants some elements such as a candle, a piece of cloth, and a cross to color and display. You might have a Zoom call where you can guide your members to set up a home altar and let everyone share what is in their sacred space.

• Resource: “Building the Altar” by Kirkwood UMC

• Resource: Irresistible podcast, episode 8

Communion

This is the time to take advantage of the fact that people are in their own homes. Share a church recipe for communion bread, join together on Zoom for a baking party, and encourage folks to bring their own elements to worship. Bless them over the live stream or pre-recorded feed. 

• Resource: A Sanctified Art At-Home Maundy Thursday Liturgy

• Resource: Article by Claudio Carvalhaes

• Resource: Bread recipe

• Resource: TED Talk on death and resurrection in bread baking

Visual proclamation

We’ve loved seeing so many services incorporate different videos into their worship. You can lay visuals on top of  prayers, affirmations of faith, scripture readings, and more. Is there a video that communicates the message in a visual way? If your church staff isn’t used to producing video, we have created a few for you to use, or this is a great way to involve the talents of your congregation!

• Resource: Example of using video layered over liturgy, from Emory Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA

• Resource: Sanctified Art on Vimeo

• Resource: Free stock videos

• Resource: Videoshop app

Offering

It’s important to offer a time in worship, whether live streamed or pre-recorded, for worshipers to consider how they will use their gifts to build God’s kingdom. Many churches are using online giving, but you might also encourage folks to do something tangible like write down their commitments, hold a coin, or give to a specific charity which is addressing your community’s needs right now.

• Resource: Online giving options

Prayer Stations

If your church uses prayer stations frequently, imagine how you might adapt them for home use. Are the materials easily obtained in your congregants’ homes? If not, could you send a care package with some materials and basic instructions?

• Resource: Prayer stations Pinterest board

Holy Week Resources

The Wilderness Journey from Palms to Passion

Since this service involves several readers who would not be able to practice proper social distancing if gathering in one place to stream, it is probably easiest for this service to be pre-recorded. All the parts of this service could be recorded individually by the liturgists and midrash readers then edited together with music to create one video. 

Singing through the Wilderness

The hand washing that opens this service hits closer to home in this time and also reminds us of the tangible experiences we are missing. The core of this practice is our belovedness, so while you might instruct worshipers to wash their hands at home, you could also choose to write the opening poem on strips of fabric and tie them around each others’ wrists. The poems can be displayed on the video, and the music that is so central to this service can be pre-recorded or found on this YouTube playlist.

Maundy Thursday

This three part service relies on poetry, which we’ve heard has been sustaining for many of you through this difficult time. Since each movement centers on something tangible most people have in their homes (water, bread, and silver) you could include creative responses that encourage congregants to wash their hands, bake bread, and place coins in a jar. If pre-recorded, there could be places in the video where people are encouraged to pause the video to participate in these creative responses.

Stations of the Cross

Our stations of the cross resource is adaptable in so many ways. You could use the Companion Guide for a Bible study over Zoom, have people print out and tape the posters around their homes or yards and physically move from station to station, or engage the guide on their own. If allowable where you are located, your church could even print out and place the posters around the exterior of the church building or along a park path and encourage people to visit at their own pace, maintaining proper distance.
NOTE: We have a file of the Companion Guide suitable for use on tablets and computer devices if your members are unable to print at home. This file is available by request: contact@sanctifiedart.org.

Easter Words for Worship

We have two years of Easter liturgy ready for you to live-stream, record, or send to your congregants. We are also continuing to produce short videos including scripture readings, art, poetry, and music, and sending them out in our newsletter and posting them in our Facebook group.

Free Supplemental Resources for Lent

In light of Covid-19 and churches now worshiping and connecting online, we are also crafting some supplemental resources for Lent to support you through this uncertain and overwhelming time.

We hope these additional materials can help you navigate this wilderness and continue to nurture your community. Be sure to check this page often, as we’ll continue to update it as we create new resources.

Anna Strickland (she/her/hers) is currently pursuing her Master's of Divinity at Iliff School of Theology. She is a native Austinite and graduated from the University of Texas where she now works in college ministry, especially serving LGBTQ students. Anna loves painting, spending time outside, and her family.