Easter 2020 marked the first major family gathering opportunity altered by COVID-19, an illness caused by a deadly virus known little about at the time.

Most states were shut down, leaving church pews empty as services and Masses across the country went virtual, many of them for the first time ever.

One year later, as the world marks Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, local religious leaders see signs of hope.

“We’re all very excited about the possibility of being together for Easter this year,” said the Rev. Michael Frost, who leads services at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Palmerton and St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lehighton, said. “To have the Easter flowers there and have people in the church singing, it’s wonderful.”

Holy Trinity, Frost said, began having services via Zoom when churches closed their doors due to the pandemic last spring. He led services from his study, but it was hardly satisfying compared to gathering in person.

The church welcomed worshippers back in July with seating in every other pew and masks required, but has still offered the services via Zoom.

“People have slowly started returning,” Frost said. “We’re now at about 25-30 people in person and maybe 20 on Zoom. I’ve heard from people who said they would be comfortable coming back when they were vaccinated, so I think we’ll see those in-person numbers continue to rise and the Zoom numbers drop down.”

Just last week on Palm Sunday at St. Matthew’s, three children received their First Holy Communion, an event that had around 60 people in attendance.

Holy Trinity’s Sunday worship time is 10:15 a.m. with Zoom login information found on the church’s website. The Easter service at St. Matthew’s in Lehighton starts at 8:30 a.m. and is streamed live on its Facebook page.

The doors to St. Mark and St. John Episcopal Church in Jim Thorpe opened for the first time this year on Palm Sunday, and while pews will be filled again on Easter, the in-person attendance will be short-lived. A task force within the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem has determined the parish will have to close for at least two weeks due to increasing positive cases in Carbon County.

“It will still be great to have a wonderful celebration on Easter, and we’ll have all of the safety protocols in place,” said Karen Horvath, parish secretary and director of music.

The church had only learned the Thursday before Palm Sunday that it would be able to open its doors.

“We had 40 people in attendance, even with the short notice, so I thought that was great,” Horvath said.

Before reopening, the church, like many others, was livestreaming its services. It is down to one service after normally holding two each Sunday.

“People really seemed to catch on to the livestreaming,” Horvath said.

In fact, they caught on so much so that Horvath said the church plans to continue the streaming even as in-person attendance opens up again.

“We have a lot of people watching from other states,” she said. “I think it’s great for people who may have grown up in this church, but moved away. It’s been a wonderful thing.”

The Easter service at St. Mark and St. John will begin at 9:30 a.m. Streaming is available via the church’s Facebook page.

Father Christopher Zelonis, of SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Lehighton, is expecting one of the biggest in-person crowds since parishioners returned to the pews last summer.

“We have a maximum of 75 in the church and 25 in our hall, and how that will jive with how many people we actually get has me a little worried,” Zelonis said.

The church has Masses scheduled for 7:45 and 10 a.m. on Easter.

The parish also streams services and has been able to get upgraded electronic equipment as the pandemic marched on thanks to donations.

“I don’t think every church will continue to stream as things progress, but I think it has been valuable,” Zelonis said. “It’s also given people a chance to look around and maybe try out a Latin Mass when they wouldn’t have had that opportunity before.”

Though streaming has had its benefit, Zelonis also worries it may keep individuals from ever returning to an in-person Mass.

“It’s become a convenience that many are now accustomed to,” he said. “Bishop Alfred Schlert announced that the Diocese of Allentown will celebrate a ‘Year of the Real Presence’ coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the diocese. We want people back in church. That real, in-person presence is very important.”

In a recent survey conducted by the personal finance website WalletHub, 18% of respondents said they will go to church on Easter. Also, 23% of respondents said they are likely to donate more than usual to their church this Easter.

With in-person attendance either not possible or limited in many churches since last spring, financial stability became a major concern for leaders. In a time of crisis, however, many locals stepped up to the plate.

“We’ve been so blessed because when you really think about it, It could have been awful,” Frost said. “The whole year, people have mailed in their offering envelopes or dropped them off. Honestly, it’s been as good as if we had never been locked down from a financial standpoint.”

St. Mark and St. John Episcopal Church in Jim Thorpe expressed similar gratitude.

“We’re still doing surprisingly well,” Horvath said. “We took a few hits, but it was not near as bad overall as what we had anticipated.”

Online giving has increased at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Lehighton.

“We didn’t really market it a whole lot before COVID-19,” Zelonis said. “But the pandemic seemed like the appropriate time to give it a new push and we are seeing more and more parishioners using it now than ever before.”