Although area churches haven't entirely resumed the Easter traditions they developed over time, a semblance of the past will show next Sunday.
Several churches will again hold sunrise services, weather permitting, in their traditional locations.
Capital West and Capital City Christian churches will resume their Sunrise Service (6:30 a.m. Easter Sunday) on the north side of the Missouri Capitol, near the Fountain of Centaurs, said Dallas Henry, Capital West Christian Church senior minister.
This will be Henry's first year to participate in the service, as he's only been at the church about seven months.
"It kind of ends as the sun is peeking up," Henry said. "Christ unites us all in that powerful moment. The churches celebrate unity."
The churches band together for the celebration before heading off to their own houses for morning services, he continued.
Capital West Christian Church, 1308 Fairgrounds Road, will hold two Easter services inside its large event center - at 8:30 and 10 a.m.
"We can handle several hundred people and still social distance in that space. We have (held services) there off and on through the pandemic," Henry said.
Others will be celebrating Easter outside near the Capitol that morning.
First Presbyterian Church, 324 Madison St., has been holding worship services outdoors through much of the COVID-19 pandemic. It canceled last year's Easter morning worship in the Carnahan Memorial Garden because of the pandemic but is returning this year.
First Presbyterian's Holy Week will include a procession of palms today (Palm Sunday), which will involve a small parade and worship outside the church at 9:30 a.m. The worship will include live music.
Maundy Thursday includes a special service that involves a holy communion, a service of mandatum (a commandment to live a life of love), and a "Tenebrae Service of Shadow." Tenebrae is a service held during the three days preceding Easter that is characterized by gradual extinguishing of candle and by a loud noise occurring in total darkness near the end of the service.
The local service will include meditative music, according to the Rev. Angela Madden, pastor at the church.
Church members will celebrate Easter at 6:30 a.m. next Sunday in the Governor's Garden. There will be a 9:30 a.m. resurrection celebration worship porch-side at the church, which will include a Flowering of the Cross - a folk ceremony in which members of the congregation bring flowers or greenery and at some point in the service attach the greenery to a bare wooden cross. The ceremony represents the transition from Good Friday to Easter and from meditation on the death of Jesus to celebration of his resurrection.
Although not as severely as last year, the pandemic has changed this Easter too, said the Rev. Scott Musselman, pastor at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 1529 Southwest Blvd.
"Except for a short period of time, we have allowed people to come in as they feel comfortable," Musselman said. "The vast majority of folks have been online."
However, he said more and more people are returning for in-person services.
The church began preparing for Holy Week a couple of months ago, he said. But it still is erring on the side of caution.
"Palm Sunday has always been a big day for us. Because of the pandemic, we're not having our normal cantata," Musselman said. "We're really hoping, at this point, to have our Christmas cantata."
The church will hold two services today for Palm Sunday - a traditional service at 9 a.m. and a modern service at 10:30 a.m.
There is plenty of space in the church for people to space out, and the church asks that participants wear masks. Those uncomfortable attending in person can follow the church's services on its Facebook page.
Our Savior's Lutheran Church's Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worships will be at 7 p.m., virtually via Zoom. A traditional Easter Sunday service is to be 9 a.m., and the modern service at 10:30 a.m.
A tradition in Russellville is for three Baptist churches to band together for one massive outdoor Easter service.
Members of a couple of the churches are still hesitant to gather in large numbers.
Russellville Baptist Church reached out to the other churches, Pastor Rusty Kuhns said.
For safety, they elected to continue holding services the way they have been.
"We wanted them to feel loved," Kuhns said.
Russellville Baptist Church will keep the outdoor service tradition going on Easter Sunday, holding its 10:30 a.m. service on the Russellville High School football field at 13600 Route C.
Masses during Holy Week at St. Peter Catholic Church, 216 Broadway St., will occur as they would in any normal year, said Kathleen Lavery, St. Peter Parish communications/outreach coordinator.
The Chrism Mass (10 a.m.) will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 2215 W. Main St. During the Mass, Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City Bishop W. Shawn McKnight will bless the holy oils to be used during the coming year. It is a time for ministry, deacons and priests to renew vows and promises.
St. Peter Church will celebrate a Mass at 7 p.m. Thursday in commemoration of the Last Supper. The Mass will be followed by Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The church will celebrate the Stations of the Cross at 3 p.m. and the liturgy at 7 p.m. Friday. It will hold an Easter Vigil Mass at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when adults who have been studying to enter the Catholic Church will receive baptisms, first communions and confirmations. On Easter Sunday, the church will recognize its normal Mass times at 7, 9 and 11 a.m., with a Spanish Mass at 2 p.m.
It's been more than a year since Second Baptist Church has officially opened up for services, Pastor Cornell Sudduth Sr. said. But it does allow some folks to come in. And, in the year since the church officially allowed the congregation in, administrators of the church at 501 Monroe St. have adapted. Services are livestreamed on the church website.
"It's interesting how this thing has worked," Sudduth said. "We didn't have a large movement before COVID-19 to livestream. Churches weren't pushing that anyway. I was trying to get people into church. When this happened, we were forced like a whole lot of others to livestream."
Second Baptist Church is in the process of upgrading its online potential, he continued.
"We had glitches in the service," he said. "Our congregations have grown from last year. People are watching church from outside."
At noon on Good Friday, the church will hold a service featuring seven scenes of Christ. There is to be an Easter service at 10:45 a.m.
Rod Maples, pastor of worship at First Baptist Church, 301 E. Capitol Ave., said although some people are beginning to return to services, many still appreciate the online option. Services may be found on the church's website.
First Baptist Church's Maundy Thursday service is scheduled for 7 p.m., and its Easter Sunday services are at 8:15 and 10:45 a.m.
"We're gathering and worshipping, and we're excited about that," Maples said. "Now that people have had shots, more are coming. We're still social distancing again and wearing masks. We're very thankful that we can gather."
A couple of downtown Jefferson City churches have also come up with some creative celebrations for the holiday.
First United Methodist Church, 201 Monroe St., will hold its traditional Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m. The service will be livestreamed and in-person.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Taizé service will be held online only, said Lead Pastor Trevor Dancer said. The Taizé is a style of worship that focuses on repetitive music, Dancer said.
"It's really a service that's best described as music of glue that holds it all together," he said. "One or two songs get repeated over and over and over again. Let those words go through you and over you and invite you into the presence of God. It's one constant movement."
Services the rest of the weekend will be normal Easter events, he said. Service at 5 p.m. Saturday will be in-person only. Services on Sunday (8:30 and 10 a.m.) will be open to attendance and will be livestreamed. Masks and social distancing are required while in the church.
Now that COVID-19 vaccinations are rolling out, attendance in the church is jumping, Dancer said.
"Just this past weekend, I got to see people from our church I hadn't seen in over a year," he continued. "It was really moving for me."
Again this year, First Christian Church will not hold its traditional Palm Sunday Donkey Parade, something the church has been unable to do for about four years now, said the Rev. Beau Underwood, the church's senior minister.
However, some fun things are happening.
First Christian Church, 327 E. Capitol Ave., will host an interactive Zoom service on its website. A box will be delivered to each household in the church. Inside the box are to be a wash rag, home-made play dough, a black cloth, a copy of a famous painting of Jesus, grape juice and instructions.
There will be a guided prayer, and activities will occur during the service.
"We're going to ask people to wash each other's hands - and if really brave, their feet," Underwood said. "We're going to ask them to form a heart out of the play dough. We'll ask them to hold up their heart, and we'll see all the hearts."
At 8:20 a.m. Easter Sunday, the church will hold service in the sanctuary. It will move outdoors for a 10:40 a.m. service at Ellis-Porter Riverside Park. The service will include a brass quartet.
"It's where we were in the fall and part of the summer," Underwood said. "It's really pretty."