Easter during lockdown

[Organfella]

This will be the first time that we will be unable to attend formal Easter church services but I am sure this will be the case for many or perhaps all, across the Globe.

But with this in mind I would like to wish all my friends and fellow organ enthusiasts, players, musicians and tinkerers a very blessed Easter. May this perhaps once in a lifetime experience bring us all closer to our Maker while we worship Him in our hearts from the confines of our homes.

.Nico

[myorgan]

Thank you, Nico. You too!

Michael

[you795a]

Thank you, and you as well.

[andyg]

And a peaceful and pleasant Easter to you too Nico.

[davidecasteel]

Hang in there, guys! My church is also closed for services but we do them on-line. We have 2 Maundy Thursday and 2 Good Friday services to link to, and also 2 Easter Sunday services. The Easter services will be using recorded music from 2019 Easter but with current Sermon and other activities. Only clergy and staff will be on site (Organist, too). I'll join and sing along (words will be on screen). Anyone else who wants to participate is welcome, go to www.fumcr.com/live . Thursday and Friday services are at 1600 and 1900 CDT, Easter is at 0945 (Traditional) and 1100 (Contemporary) CDT.

David

[Organfella]

I managed to watch the Good Friday version on YouTube. Lovely music and singing very appropriate.
Nico

[jbird604]

A blessed Easter to all! We're surviving over here, one day at a time. Trying to stay busy, enjoy what we can, stay in touch with family and friends by phone or text or the occasional group video call.

Yes, it will be different. I'm a real people-person, a hand-shaker, a hugger. This isolation and non-gathering has been hard on me. And our Holy Week and Easter traditions have meant so much to me these 9 years in my beloved Disciples church. I will sorely miss all the gatherings and doings. The "Flowering of the Cross" has become a highlight of my life each Easter, and we have always taken a family photo standing by that cross, but not this year.

Our congregation will "meet" via the Zoom app at 11 a.m. Sunday. It will be nice to see all the faces, so we'll take our joy however we can get it this year! I'm hopeful that the restrictions will start to relax in a month or so, and we'll make up for lost time!

[myorgan]

Easter is at 0945 (Traditional)

Our congregation will "meet" via the Zoom app at 11 a.m. Sunday.

So, we could go to church with David at 9:45, and then John at 11:00! That would be a full Easter Sunday!

Michael

[myorgan]

Wait, I forgot about the time zones-Central Time for both of you?

Michael

[jbird604]

Yep. Central time for both! Welcome to church!

[davidecasteel]

I think folks will need the Zoom ID to join that service. The FUMCR service is open to anyone. (They'd like you to register, but it's not necessary.)

David

[Organfella]

Thank you David! While we also have all our church sermons available online - and more than usual so that we can literally sit all day and partake in these, I will make a point of reaching your link as well. Our time zone of course is way different so I hope that the sermons are recorded so that we can share, however, if we are unable, have a blessed time!

We have just been informed last night by our State President that our lock down period has been extended until 30 April. Personally I welcome this development but others seem to feel differently. I find that Christians may need this time of isolation to get to grips with the realities of being a Christian without the hubbub of the world reverberating in our ears. So far I have found great benefit in this and somehow feel drawn closer to our great God through this experience.

Nico

[davidecasteel]

Actually, our services are available for delayed playback, too--entire service, not just the Sermon.

David

[Piperdane]

A very blessed Easter to all. This year is really different ... and for the very first time in 58 years of being a professional church organist, I do not have to get up at 4:00am in preparation for an Easter sunrise service! We live stream our services ... had Maundy Thursday last night, Good Friday service tonight, and one Easter Sunday service at 9:15am. We do not do an Easter vigil service.

Even though I am playing to an empty church I still continue to do my very best for preludes and postludes. My prelude for Sunday is O Filii et Filiae by John West. - not an easy piece and requires numerous piston changes, but the end result is what my congregation expects of me, even if we are just live streaming.

This will be a year to remember for sure ... but we will all get through this at some point and things may return to normal.

[davidecasteel]

About midway into the service this morning, the livelink had a problem. I switched to the YouTube version and saw the whole service, even though some time had passed. I don't know how our tech crew does it, but the stuff from last year was seamlessly integrated with the live material from this year. It was a fine service. I just tried the YT link and it still works. You can see it now at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tms_pUhHHwo .

[jbird604]

We did the Zoom thing, as planned. Our congregation of course is small -- 60 is a good attendance on a typical Sunday, but we might have had twice that many or more, had this been a "normal" Easter. Even with many of our folks being seniors and some not very technically inclined, we had around 30 who joined the Zoom service. I'm sure that some did not find the concept appealing at all and didn't feel like working through the effort, and some may have been unable to make it work. And others, even young adults and professional people, may have simply had other things going on today. But it was heartening to see people we love so much and haven't been able to interact with in three weeks or so.

The pastor read her Lectionary text and presented a brief but moving Easter sermon, then led us in communion ("kits" had been distributed door to door and in other ways by a team of helpers). We prayed together, and our string duo (a couple who play guitar and dulcimer) played some beautiful music. We also sang a hymn -- "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" -- and it worked better than expected. I had pre-recorded it on organ so I could just play it back while leading it. We knew the time delay would make it sound weird and not truly like singing together, but we did it anyway, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I'm sure if we had a recording of what we did it wouldn't sound very much like a group singing together, but it was meaningful to us.

I had also made a YouTube video to distribute to the members, with my wife and me singing a verse each of five favorite Easter-appropriate Gospel songs and hymns. I trust that was more satisfying musically, even though this attempt at group singing was certainly more fun!

Not sure if we'll do more Zoom services, but it was interesting and it was sweet to see those familiar and beloved faces all smiling for the camera in their own homes!

[myorgan]

I feel like I missed so much!!! Thursday evening we had a snowstorm with heavy, wet snow that took down part of a tree in front of our house. On the way down, it ripped the electrical & telephone service off the corner of the house, and the insulators destroyed the back of the car parked below. No Internet until we rigged something up today, and even with the wires down, we still have electricity. It's fun to watch the people who normally speed up our street as a shortcut. When they see all the trees down, they jam on their brakes and have to turn around.

David, thank you for the link. I love the music of your church. I might get worn out on Brass music every Sunday, but it is certainly nice hearing it with the Timpani and organ.

I hope everyone had a great Easter. I was amazed the phone company had a guy come out on Easter. When he learned I have been teaching online, he wouldn't leave until we had something up and running-even though the wires are still down and across the road! So, back to class tomorrow.

Michael

[myorgan]

David,

I noticed your choir was kinda fast-going between a full choir loft and empty loft several times during the service!;-) Thanks for sharing the link.

Michael

[jbird604]

Sorry to hear about your snow storm damage, Michael. I hope it will be fixed soon. Terrible about the car. Here in Arkansas there was wind and rain and a little tornado activity as well, but no damage locally that I know of. I had a call from a friend this morning who lives in southeastern Arkansas. There are hundreds of thousands of people down there without electricity since 8 p.m. yesterday, and who knows how long it will take to get it up and running everywhere. We sure didn't need storms on top of the COVID troubles, but we have no control over the weather.

[myorgan]

No good deed goes unpunished! Tuesday afternoon the power company came by, noticed our service was physically down, so they cut the power cable without notice! When asked, they said it was because the cable was a hazard.to pedestrians. I reminded them that from Friday to Tuesday they didn't feel it was a hazard because they did nothing about it then!

So this past afernoon, I drove up and down streets until I found a power crew, waited until they were done, and led them to my house to reconnect!

David, it's great to hear how many people were positively affected by your church's Easter service. Please pass on our/my thanks from New England!

Michael

[davidecasteel]

I had a message from the church today (they send out a weekly message) and was informed that there were 6000 registered participants in the Easter services! That, of course, only counts those who took the effort to log in--I suspect there were others watching who did not do that. I think modern technology is incredible.

David