Capacity limits, distanced egg hunts: Churches prepare for second Easter in pandemic
Sunday marks the second Easter during the coronavirus pandemic, but many church services in the Sacramento area will look different than last year.
The holiday in 2020 came in the earliest weeks of the health crisis, less than a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order for California. With restrictions on gatherings at their tightest levels, in-person church services were prohibited under the state health order.
Some churches took their services virtual or held them on a drive-up basis. Others rebelled and met in violation of the order. On Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, a church in Lodi planned to convene but closed down after police arrived to enforce San Joaquin County’s local health order. The church filed a lawsuit later that April.
Plenty has changed in the past year. Most notably, the U.S. Supreme Court in February ruled Newsom’s restrictions on places of worship under the color-coded tier system was unconstitutional.
Prior to that ruling, places of worship in counties classified in the strict purple tier of COVID-19 risk were barred from holding indoor, in-person services.
The state health department amended its guidelines, allowing churches open indoors at a maximum of 25% their normal capacity in the purple and red tiers of COVID-19 restrictions and 50% in the orange and yellow tiers. Modifications including social distancing and mask requirements are still in place.
In the four-county capital region, Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer counties are all in the red tier while Yolo County has advanced to orange. As of an update this past Tuesday, a vast majority of California — 55 of its 58 counties — are in tiers looser than purple.
Easter Sunday, many large church campuses in the Sacramento region are holding modified services in person while also live-streaming video of services online.
Capital Christian Center, which is holding two Easter morning services and streaming both to YouTube and Facebook, says on its website that on-campus attendance is limited to 25% capacity. Guests are asked to sign a COVID-19 waiver. Capital Christian says it will provide candy bags for children, but it won’t be hosting an egg hunt this year.
Bayside Church, which has six campuses in the greater Sacramento area, will hold indoor services at five of them this coming weekend. The Bayside Adventure campus in Roseville along with its Folsom and Granite Bay campuses will hold services Saturday evening as well as Sunday for Easter. The Adventure campus will host an egg hunt for kids.
Bayside Davis continues to hold its services outdoors, at the park at 4th and C streets.
Bayside says on its website it is adhering to family-style seating, keeping families clustered together with social distancing between different households. Masks are required on Bayside campuses.
Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, which has flouted state COVID-19 restrictions for much of the past year including with services packed to near full capacity, says it plans three services on Easter and won’t require reservations in advance.
“We have plenty of space and a venue for increased social distancing options,” Destiny says on its website.
The church also says it “will be hosting a massive laser-tag Easter Egg hunt for children K-3rd grade” during its service times Sunday.
Though Yolo County has the loosest restrictions in the region because of its status in the orange tier, several churches in Davis in addition to the Bayside campus have not yet reopened indoors.
Davis Community Church remains online-only, while Christ Church of Davis, FBC Davis and University Covenant Church are holding services including Easter on their lawns or in their courtyards, according to their websites. University Covenant will host an egg hunt after each of its two services Sunday, but says “family units will also stay together” during the egg hunts.
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 7:59 AM.
