Valencia Christian Center celebrates Easter with virtual choir

As the “Safer at Home” directive kept its congregants home amid the Easter holiday, Valencia Christian Center found a way to bring some Easter joy from a safe distance with a virtual choir performance.

“We wanted to be creative and find a way to bring folks together, as well as utilize our praise team, who would normally be there in person under different circumstances,” Senior Pastor Swanzi Saunders said. “So, we utilized Zoom, and we were able to bring the praise team in and the music and create something special for Easter that way.”

With the help of VCC’s praise and worship leader, Theresa Bailey, who came up with the idea, the team successfully delivered a virtual performance of “You Reign.”

“It’s so important during this time to find a way to stay connected to one another,” Bailey said in a prepared statement. “Congregations are not allowed to meet right now, so we have to be creative in our worship services. Having the praise team sing via video was a great way to keep the music ministry connected and involved, while staying safe at home.”

For many of VCC’s congregants, the performance was a pleasant surprise, Saunders said.

“They really enjoyed it,” she added. “So we got nothing but positive feedback as a result.”

This gave the church the opportunity to get creative in finding ways to reach its congregants beyond its typical walls, according to Saunders.

“We’re living in a time that we’ve never experienced in our lifetime,” she said. “There’s no roadmap, and we’re trying to figure things out as we go. … In the midst of that, we’re aware that there’s a lot of anxiety and even stress on varying levels, and so we wanted to make Easter something a little bit more special and something that would remind us of the hope that we have, even in circumstances like this.”

Valencia Christian Center’s online Sunday services are scheduled 10 a.m. via Facebook Live at facebook.com/valenciachristiancenter.

To view the video, visit bit. ly/VCCEasterChoir. For more information on VCC, visit valenciachristiancenter.org.