How hundreds of church-goers in Harborough will still be able to celebrate Easter this weekend

Local churches are beefing up their cyberspace presence after places of worship were shut last month during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Hundreds of church-goers in Harborough will be able to celebrate Easter online this weekend.

Homes in Market Harborough and beyond will be alive with the sound of Easter music for the most important festival in the Christian calendar.

Local churches are beefing up their cyberspace presence after places of worship were shut last month during the Covid-19 lockdown.

At a time of year when many churches welcome visitors to their services, all the resources are freely accessible to anyone in the community. These include live-streamed audio and video services, YouTube videos, and written messages, readings and prayers.

The ease of access from living rooms and additional services broadcast on national TV and radio led one local worshipper to say: “I’ve never been able to go to ‘church’ so often, so comfortably and to attend so many different styles of worship and prayer.

“I can even go and make a drink in the middle!”

The traditional Good Friday open air event backed by all the churches in The Square in Harborough town centre has been postponed until next year.

So Harborough Methodists are encouraging people to carry palm crosses on their regular walk that day instead.

They are also producing regular short messages on their YouTube channel “Never Alone” in which local minister Andy Murphy encourages viewers to share their burdens with God and each other.

Several church communities are livestreaming services.

Living Rock Church, which usually meets at Meadowdale Primary School, will have musicians performing from their homes on Easter Sunday.

There will also be a virtual egg hunt for children and crafts and other resources available to download.

The Congregational Church is streaming an audio service on Sunday.

It’s also created an inventive Easter Garden in front of its High Street chapel “as a sign of new life and hope”, says its minister Stephen Haward.

The five Church of England churches have been using video-conferencing facility Zoom together for two weeks.

And that allows the congregation to see, meet and talk to each other as they join in live acts of worship and meditation.

Over 100 households joined in the service on Sunday April 5.

The Anglicans have a webcast every day this week and an interactive service on Sunday.

That will include a short period of small group discussion in ‘breakout rooms’ on the site.

For people not online they have also produced a booklet of short reflective services.

That’s been posted out and is also downloadable from the team website.

Roman Catholics in Harborough are receiving weekly emails with prayers and reflections.

They are also being urged to join in the many services available online nationally through https://www.thecatholicuniverse.com/live-streams-catholic-masses-online-in-the-uk-and-ireland-list-50726

Harborough Community Church in Bath Street is holding a virtual communion service, as are the town’s Baptists.

They are downloadable from websites and YouTube, along with many other resources produced by each church.

Readers can find how to access these together with full details of everything else available by going to https://www.harboroughchurches.org.uk/ and following the links to both ‘News’ and ‘Town churches’.