God was certainly with all of us across the diocese as we celebrated Easter and proclaimed "the Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!"  While Easter looked very different than it has in years past, parishioners and clergy came together in creative and innovative ways to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. I am inspired and encouraged to see the photos and videos which were shared with us, and I heard a lot of first hand testimony about the joyous spirit that so many of us embraced as we celebrated in unconventional ways.  I hope you enjoy looking through these snapshots and reading these anecdotes as much as I did. Blessings to you all.  Faithfully, John

Easter at St. Peter's Fernandina looked a bit different this year, but was just as exceptional as ever!

St. Cyprian's in St. Augustine had a "full house" on Easter Sunday!

Check out this video from St.Philip's Episcopal Church in Jacksonville . Thanks for sharing your Easter Pageant with us!

Fr. Jon Davis from Christ Church in Cedar Key was able to preach at an ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service at the beach in Cedar Key. The service was broadcast over an FM transmitter to people sitting in their cars.

At St. Mary's in Jacksonville, attendees of Easter Sunday Morning Prayer gathered on Zoom prior to viewing the Cathedral service.

These beautiful photos come from St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Starke.

This photo is from T he Episcopal University Center at Ruge Hall and features some attendees after their Easter service of lessons and carols.

Christ Church Monticello has a tradition where families flower the Cross which is then displayed at the front of the Sanctuary. This year, they coordinated the event carefully to allow for proper social distancing.  The Cross was then used as part of Easter morning reflection which ended with connecting parishoners to the worship service at the St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville.

The Chapel of Incarnation at the University of Florida welcomed a few of the church's international students who are still in Gainesville to join them for an Easter meal. They practiced proper social distancing so the students who could not return home for Easter had a place to gather. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville offered a different way to experience the Stations of the Cross this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Child-friendly pictorial representations were placed in locations outside of parishioner homes and on St. Mark’s campus. Parishioners and community members were encouraged to walk/bike/drive the neighborhood stations throughout Holy Week.  Throughout Holy Week St. Mark’s clergy provided brief video introductions to each Diocesan- wide service. One parishioner wrote, “The services have been wonderful. Having our clergy do introductions was especially nice.” Another wrote, “We so appreciate all the hard work and effort you have given to provide the parishioners a St. Mark’s online service. We certainly miss the Community of the church but are most grateful for the online connection during the unsettling coronavirus period.” In addition, St. Mark’s was able to reach exponentially more people on Good Friday compared to customary in-person services. One mother of four young children said it was the first Good Friday service she and her family had been able to attend together and thanked us for making it “virtual”. All Saints in Jacksonville had quite a few people hard at work providing services during Holy Week! (Above) Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Curate at All Saints, Jacksonville, filming Holy Monday Evening Prayer service for the Diocese. (Above) Mtr. Lisa Meirow, Curate at All Saints, Jacksonville, filming a children’s Easter Story with All Saints’ Director of Youth Ministry, Mrs. Hillary Citrano. (Above) The Blessing of the Palms filmed at the outdoor altar of All Saints, Jacksonville on Palm Sunday with the Rev. Donavan Cain, Rector, the Rev. Lisa Meirow, Curate, and the Rev. Mark Richardson, Deacon.

And finally, from Trinity Parish in St. Augustine , Fr. Matt Marino shared: Our Palm Sunday Service had 2400 views and our Service of Shadows had 3500. That is a reach for our little church of 430 people per week we would’ve never had.  Doing it together really blessed our faithful regular people too.