‘HOPE IS ON THE UPTICK’
More than 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Arizona during Lent.
Among those doses was one for the Right Rev. Jennifer A. Reddall, the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. Her vaccination meant hugging her parents, who were also vaccinated, for the first time in a year.
Reddall told The Arizona Republic that Lent, the Christian observance marked by a period of solemnity and deprivation that leads up to the celebration of Easter, was still “weird” this year because of the pandemic.
However, remembering the Easter story and recognizing the significant strides made in combatting the coronavirus pandemic has given her and many others reason to look to the future.
None of the state’s Episcopal churches had in-person worship for Easter last year and instead relied on online services, Reddall said. While virtual worship is still being offered this year, congregants also have the option of attending an in-person service outdoors.
Masks and social distancing will still be required, and Reddall said there would likely only be a few singers.
Still, it’s a vast improvement from last year’s Easter options, and because of that, Reddall said there is a “sense of hope.”
“I feel like we can see the day that we’ll be able to gather fully and have everybody singing and have everybody hugging and shaking hands,” she said. “We’re almost there, but we’re not quite there. But we can see it.”
Reddall, citing the gospel of Mark, compared it to the women going to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning only to be told that He had risen from the dead. They couldn’t yet see the resurrected Jesus and trembled in fear. It’s a fitting metaphor for Easter 2021, a time in which many people may feel a mixture of fear and hope, courage and anxiety, she said.
Reddall said “spiritually, people are tired” but that she hopes to remind them on Sunday that God is always present, no matter what.
“Jesus is not on mute during the pandemic and Jesus is not going to be on mute after this pandemic, and neither are our leaders,” she said. “We are called to preach the gospel no matter what’s going on, and I think the world needs to hear that message of new life and sacrificial love.”
Ashley Wooldridge, senior pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley, said the church “really had to pivot in a massive way” last year as the pandemic outbreak came just before the Easter season.
“Here we are a year later, we’re not out of the pandemic yet, but what we’re looking at this year is really a way to welcome people home,” Wooldridge told The Republic on Wednesday.
The church, which has various campuses around the Valley, is offering services virtually and in person, with both indoor and outdoor events.
Masks are not required at in-person services, though Wooldridge said social distancing would still be practiced. He said by offering multiple service formats, he hoped the church would be able to reach as many people as possible.
“Everyone’s in a slightly different place with where they’re at, their comfort level,” he said. “We’re all having the same experience, but in different boats.”
The church went back to in-person services in August, and Wooldridge said congregants have appreciated the opportunity to worship together once again.
“We have people walk out with tears in their eyes sometimes, just listening and worshipping with people around you,” he said. “A lot of people describe it as an emotional moment, just forgetting what it’s like to be in a place where you have people and have something in common and worshipping together — it’s been a really powerful thing.”
Wooldridge, like Reddall, said he sees “a lot of similarities” between the ancient Easter story and the trials felt by many during the pandemic.
“It starts off in a really dark place, it’s a crucifixion, someone dies, and yet in that darkest moment there becomes life, and not just life, but life to its fullest extent,” he said. “I think that’s the hope a lot of people have. There’s been some dark days and can there be light ahead? I really believe there can be.”
He referenced Romans 8:28, which says that all things are part of God’s greater plan. Wooldridge said that though people may experience the “toughest of things,” such as a pandemic, it is oftentimes great trials that lead to great growth and triumph.
Among the things Wooldridge reflected on during Lent was the larger Christian church’s visibility in its communities, which he said is a priority for CCV.
The church last year started its Press On campaign, which Wooldridge said as of Wednesday had raised more than $2 million to help more than 4,000 community members access Christian counseling services.
It’s those kinds of outreach efforts that Wooldridge hopes continue to grow, both at his church and others across the country.
“I really feel like the church is designed not to be a country club for its members but to really be a hospital for anyone that’s hurting,” he said. “A church needs to be outward-facing, and that’s what we’ve tried to do throughout this season, is really try to help the community.”
One of the things the Rev. Rob Clements of the All Saints Catholic Newman Center in Tempe misses most about pre-pandemic life is connecting with Arizona State University students on campus.
In particular, he looks forward to resuming dorm room blessings at the start of each semester.
“College days ... were the happiest days of my life,” he said. “They’re a time you discover so much about yourself, about life. You discover your vocation, you plan your career, just to be able to bring a little bit of God’s grace into the moment, into the mix there at that time in someone’s life, I think it means a lot to the students and to their parents.”
Though dorm room blessings and other traditions are still on hold because of the ongoing pandemic, Clements echoed other clergy’s feelings of the upcoming renewal.
The center on Good Friday had its stations of the cross outdoors, though other services were being held indoors. That included one on Holy Thursday that Clements said had a line out the door.
Congregants are asked to wear masks, and Clements said they have tried to uphold physical distancing indoors to the extent possible. He also added an 8 a.m. service on Sunday to prevent overcrowding at the 10 a.m. service.
Clements attributed the interest in Easter services this year to the desperation many feel to get back to some sense of normalcy after a year that was anything but typical.
He told The Republic on Friday that congregants after the Thursday evening service were overjoyed that they could worship together again, with some even excitedly telling him about the vaccinations they’d recently received.
Clements and his household got infected with COVID-19 in December. He hasn’t gotten the vaccine yet but said he revels in seeing members of his congregation look forward to the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.
“Hope is on the uptick, most definitely,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many people so excited to get a shot.”
Clements in February encouraged the faithful to consider adding to their life for Lent instead of taking something away, saying that many had already lost so much because of the pandemic.
He told The Republic at the time that he saw “an awful lot of unkindness happening” and called for Christians to do something about it.
As of Friday morning, he was still drafting his Easter Sunday message. He wasn’t quite sure what the exact lines would be, but told The Republic he wanted to tap into the buzz of excitement and hope he’s felt and seen in recent weeks.
“You can crucify, you can scourge, you can kill, you can bury the truth — but it always rises again,” he said.