Pastors, Christian entertainers host 2-hour ‘Easter Across America’ Sunday special
As most church campuses in the U.S. remain closed due to restrictions meant to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease, church leaders are hosting a two-hour national video streaming event called Easter Across America, featuring speaker Nick Vujicic and megachurch pastors Max Lucado and Miles McPherson among others.
“Easter Across America is a faith-filled, hope-bringing, positive message for all Americans,” says the Facebook page of the online event, which will be hosted by author and pastor Nona Jones.
The speakers of the event, to be livestreamed Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern time, include Lucado of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas; North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley; Australian motivational speaker Vujicic; Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Foreman; pastor McPherson of California’s Rock Church; and author Bob Goff.
“Social distancing and shelter-in-place quarantine measures have been in effect for weeks in various parts of the country and many Americans are starting to feel the effects of isolation and an uncertain future,” says a statement announcing the event, which is sponsored by the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision and the health care sharing ministry Medi-Share.
“It’s time to place a pause on the pandemic and be reminded of the treasured message of hope and renewal in the Easter story,” said Kenny Jahng, co-lead of ChurchCommuncations.com alongside Katie Allred. “We’re seeing that people are yearning for a sense of unity and shared experiences again."
As of Sunday afternoon, there were more than 1.8 million confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 112,241 deaths worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. In the United States, there were more than 532,200 cases with 21,418 deaths.
All speakers, presenters, comedians and musicians are “volunteering their time and talent out of a common desire to bring hope, joy, and inspiration to America during the COVID-19 pandemic,” say the organizers.
Recently, a 10-hour livestream event called “Leader Check In” was hosted by PULSE and Year of the Bible founder Nick Hall. It was organized in partnership with thousands of churches and organizations worldwide, and every speaker volunteered their time to give a word from God to a hurting world.