BANGOR, Maine — Easter Sunday is typically spent in crowded churches, around the table for family meals, outside for egg hunts, and eating lots of chocolate. But in the last few weeks, nothing has been typical.
As the coronavirus spreads in Maine, the safety of its people takes priority. Church services have transitioned to online, and during Sunday's holiday, Mainers spent the holy day at home.
The Unitarian Universalist Society in Bangor was able to get its parishioners out of the house for at least a little bit. The church rang its bells at noon to help bring some music to Bangor.
“We thought this would be a great way to send an Easter message through Bangor, through music," minister Andrew Moeller said.
The church also set food donation boxes for the Bangor Ecumenical Food Cupboard. Food pantries across the state have been struggling to meet the surge in demand and Moeller hoped he could help.
“[We set this up] so people could come by and drop off food to donate to the food pantry, and do some good for our fellow citizens here in Bangor," Moeller said.
Across town at St. John's, Father Frank Murray still gave his Easter sermon, but to an empty church. The biggest challenge he faced this holy week was not being able to read the crowd.
“You read those face, those faces give you an instant assessment if you’re coming across or if they’re with you or they’re not," Murray said.
In a time of uncertainty, stress, and confusion, Murray wants to remind his followers we are in this together.
“We’ve got to realize that’s happening, we’ve got to slow ourselves down and realize we’re connected," Murray said. "[We are] experiencing this with others, who are doing the same thing even though they can’t see them.”
The bells at the Unitarian Universalist Society will ring once a week to signify the Mainers who lost their lives to the coronavirus.