Many churches in Bengaluru are gearing up to hold Good Friday and Easter Sunday celebrations offline this year.
From roping in extra volunteers for crowd control to holding a service in the open and keeping the option of hybrid format open, they are all
ready.
At Bethel AG Church International Worship Centre, there will be three services on April 15, at 8 am, 10 am and 12 noon. Their Easter Sunday service will be held at 10 am at the Temple of God ground, adjacent to the Centre, on Outer Ring Road.
“We will do services in six different language (Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and French). They will happen simultaneously,” says Danny Kuruvilla, associate pastor.
The Church is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is expecting more attendees than usual. It has in place Covid-19 protocols to space out the congregation over their 3-acre property.
“For those who aren’t in the city or can’t make it to the service, the service will also be available online,” he says.
Extra volunteers
At St Patrick’s Church, Brigade Road, there will be three services on Friday — Konkani (8 am), English (9.30 am) and Tamil (11 am). The Veneration of the cross service is at 6 pm. Easter vigil service will be held on Saturday, 7 pm. Easter Sunday mass will be in Kannada (6.15 am), Tamil (7.30 pm) and English (8.45 am, 10 am, 11.15 am and 6 pm).
Parish priest Fr Christy Raj says, “Friday’s evening service will be held at St Joseph’s College grounds as we are expecting around 1,500 people to turn up. Fifty 50 volunteers will coordinate the event and keep a check on social distancing and mask wearing.”
St Michael’s Church, Shanthinagar, will be hosting ‘Way of the Cross’ in English (8.30 am), Kannada (9.30 am) and Tamil (11 am) on Friday.
“People come from different parts of the city for this service. With the pandemic subsiding, many elderly people will be attending the church after almost two years,” says
parish priest Fr Paneer Selva Kumar.
Volunteers will be ushering people in diligently. “Extra chairs will be arranged as Palm Sunday (last Sunday) saw huge numbers of attendees. Prior to the pandemic, around 500 people attended these services but we are expecting more numbers this year,” he says.
The other services will include Passion service on Friday in Kannada (4 pm), English (5.30 pm) and Tamil (7 pm), and Easter vigil on Saturday at English (7.30 pm), Kannada (9.30 pm) and 11.30 pm (Tamil). “On Easter Sunday, the services in all three languages will be held between 6.30 am and 9.30 am. This year, the community is happy that they will be able to celebrate without restrictions,” he says.
Unique Easter service
At All Saints’ Church, Hosur Road, the Friday service in English will be held at 11.30 am. Rev Theodore William, presbyter in charge, says, “The three-hour long service will meditate on the seven words said by Jesus on the cross. We are expecting all of the congregation to come and participate this year. Our young volunteers will be ushering them and ensuring there is no crowding.”
Extra chairs have been arranged. “We are expecting above 500 people to attend,” he says. The Easter Sunday service at 5.30 am is unique as it will be held outside, in the lawn, and the second service will be at 9 am.
“The resurrection message is always about hope and life, and especially after a tough two years, the message comes right in time,” he adds.