During this COVID-19 pandemic, there haven’t been many things that are for certain. However, some local churches have been doing what they can to keep providing their services and support to the community.

Cross Roads United Methodist Church at 7901 N. Central Ave. has been making sure it is constantly serving the public.

“Our attendance has stayed the same throughout this time,” said Senior Pastor Kimberly Scott.

Cross Roads church has been offering outdoor worship on its front lawn since late last year and plans to continue providing this service for their community. It also offers services inside the church but visitors must wear masks and social distancing is required.

It also started to provide its services on Zoom and through Facebook Live.

“For some folks it has been convenient to not have to come to church,” Scott said. “The good thing is we have people who are able to listen that are near and far.”

She said that people who live in Nevada and Oregon have attended the church’s services and they plan to continue to offer their services online post pandemic so that can continue.

Cross Roads also plans to have Easter services, both online and in-person, along with an Easter egg hunt for the kids, but this year the egg hunt will look a lot different. The kids will be sent out one at a time to look for eggs and count as many as they can find. Then they will say how many they saw and they will be given that many eggs.

Once things slowly get back to normal, Scott isn’t sure if people will be comfortable enough to attend services fully in-person again.

“I do wonder if people, once the pandemic is over, are going to want to come back in person,” she said. “Just because it is so convenient to attend online.”

To learn more about Cross Roads, visit https://crossroadsphx.com.

First United Methodist Church at 5510 N. Central Ave. had planned to resume in-person services late last month for Palm Sunday and it has scheduled services for Easter Sunday, April 4. These services are being held in the Friendship Patio. In-person nursery and children and adult classes had not yet been planned.

The church is asking people to wear face coverings and to socially distance themselves from others. People are asked to register online or by telephone if they plan to attend the Wednesday before the Sunday they will be at a service. Each service is limited to 50 people.

To learn more about First United Methodist Church visit https://firstchurch.church.

Maryn Weeks is a student in Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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