Churches gear for Easter

Langalakhe Mabena

Easter is upon us and churches across the country are geared up to celebrate Easter, one of the most revered holiday periods of the year.

Several churches are preparing for special services, conferences, marches, camp meetings and social media is also getting flooded with advertisements of church events.

This year’s Easter holiday is the first that will allow large gatherings since the outbreak of the Covid-19 four years ago. For the past four years, churches have struggled to find safe and meaningful ways, amid a global pandemic, to mark Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

This year, congregations have high expectations as pandemic restrictions have eased.

The head of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, Archbishop Alex Thomas said the church was happy with this year’s Easter celebrations.

“For the church, this year’s Easter is significant because congregants are happy to be going back to our usual way of celebrating Easter.

“We have already done celebrations of the Palm Sunday, which is done on the Sunday before Easter, that is set aside to remember the entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.

Yesterday (Thursday) we celebrated Holy Thursday, which is used to remember the occasion when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

“Friday is termed the Good Friday as it marks the passion and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Saturday evening is celebrated to remember Jesus Christ’s resurrection and Easter Sunday marks the final resurrection of Christ,” said the Archbishop.

Zimbabwe Council of Churches president Bishop Lazarus Khanye said this year, Easter must be celebrated as a revival for most Christians who had stopped going to church due to the pandemic and lost track of what they ought to be doing.

“Easter is a tradition within the church, and if we stop doing such things people will cease to feel the Christianity that they initially signed up for.

“This year’s Easter is going to act as a revival for most of our loved ones who had stopped going to church and lost track of what they ought to be doing. Now that we can gather and worship together, it is time to give praise to God for rescuing us from the scourge of Covid-19,” said Bishop Khanye.

Although the easing of Covid-19 restrictions has returned a sense of normality to church services, National Covid-19 Response Co-ordinator Dr Agnes Mahomva said safety must come first despite the lifting of some Covid-19 protocols.

“People are now allowed to gather but as Government, we are saying if you are going to be part of the big Easter gatherings or any other gathering during this period and beyond it is important to adhere to Covid-19 protocols.

“We are encouraging people that will be part of the large gatherings that they must be fully vaccinated. We are reaching out to the organisers of these gatherings and events that they should encourage their guests to be fully vaccinated as they come for these events,” said Dr Mahomva.