While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled numerous events, LakePointe City Church plans to still have both an Easter egg event on Saturday and Sunday Easter service by thinking inside the car rather than outside the box.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, the church, located at 1343 Albert Pike, will provide Easter eggs for families to take home as well as a "Family Fun Pack," containing "an easy Bible lesson on the Resurrection" and fun activities for children ages 2 to teens, Phyllis Conly, the director of the church's new Children's Academy, said Tuesday.
"This will give families the tools to have church in their homes to unite and understand the meaning of Easter," she said, noting, "The whole family can participate."
Conly stressed they want families to "stay safe" so participants will remain in their vehicles and drive through to pick up the eggs and fun packs.
Greg Bearss, the pastor of LakePointe, said Wednesday the Easter egg hunt has "been really huge" in the past, with close to 5,000 people attending the event throughout the day last year.
While LakePointe has done an Easter egg hunt for about 10 years, Bearss noted that for the last two years they had combined with several other churches to form Churches of Hot Springs and hold a joint event at Hot Springs Mall.
"This year, because of the crisis, we're not going to be able to do that and decided to just do it on our own," he said.
He said they never considered canceling the event though, noting, "We just knew it would have to be done differently."
For Saturday, Bearss said he hopes families attending will "kind of stagger out" the times they come over the course of the three-hour drive-up event to "spread it out," but noted basically they will "pick up their eggs and go so it shouldn't be a problem." He said there will be two distribution points in the parking lot to help keep the traffic moving.
He said the Easter bunny will also be on hand but will be "waving at the kids from a safe distance."
On Sunday, he said the church plans to have a drive-in Easter service at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with attendees staying in their cars and the service broadcast over their car radios on KZNG.
Bearss noted the event will include the church's worship band performing on a stage in the parking lot and he will conduct a sermon "while everyone sits safely in their cars."
Parking lot services, where people drive in their cars and stay in their cars, are a "good way for people to be together without risking the spread of COVID-19," Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said Tuesday during Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson's daily news conference in Little Rock on the COVID-19 crisis.
"Those are to be encouraged," Smith said, noting, "if people get out of their cars and they start interacting with each other without social distancing, well that's another story. That would be a problem."
Parking lot services "are a good way for people to be together without having that risk of COVID-19 transmission," Smith said.
Bearss said part of the reason they decided to have the separate Easter egg event on Saturday was because he knew some families, especially ones with small children, might be uncomfortable sitting in their car for an hour for the Sunday service.
Bearss noted 1,200 to 1,500 people attended Easter services at LakePointe last year. Asked about potential traffic issues, he said, "It's a big parking lot. We'll be OK."
He said the Easter message is "kind of the centerpiece of everything" and he felt it was "super important for parents to continue with that celebration of the gift of Jesus. We're doing it a little differently this year, but the message is still there."
"We want to bring hope to the table," Bearss said. "We like to say we're scattered, but we're not shaken. We will continue to press on and bring the message of Jesus. It's important to remember that God is still in charge. He's not surprised by the virus and there's nothing he can't handle."
Bearss noted LakePointe has been distributing food to those in need with a drive-through in the parking lot Monday through Thursday, but will also be giving food out on Saturday "until it runs out."
"We gave out 150 bags of food (Tuesday) and will be getting 300 more," he said.
Bearss said they also plan to have an Easter celebration outside Hot Springs Mall like before where the children will be able to hunt for eggs later in the year "when this is all over," noting, "We may be doing Easter in July, you never know."
Local on 04/09/2020