Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Covid-19 and Holy Week

I am a 20-year-old Episcopal Student who studies at the University of Texas. The Episcopal Diocese of Texas began altering ritual life on Sunday March 8, 2020 when the laity was told not to dip the bread into the common cup of the Eucharist, but laity members could either take the host in one form, or drink from the common cup. The rational was that there were more germs on your hands then on your lips. On this Sunday I chose to take to the only the bread since I made little sense to me to drink from one cup. By the following Sunday of March 15 all in person services were cancelled by the Bishop and transitioned to zoom Church. Fr. Travis the missionary at the Episcopal Church on the UT campus saw little sense in continuing the eucharist via zoom so the community switched to Evening Prayer. The Episcopal Student Center also began offering offices from the Daily Hours on Instagram. The biggest change in ritual life happened on Holy Week, our community switched from evening prayer to using the Liturgy of the Word- which is the first part of Eucharistic liturgy. Services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil were all prerecorded. The distance caused by the Covid-19 pandemic made the remaining time of Lent and Holy Week for intense. Especially the narratives about Jesus feeling abandoned. I personal on this Good Friday watch the Last Temptation of Christ – which helped me rely on a more human side of Jesus during this time. A big change for the way I engaged with services stems from my role as an acolyte, which is eliminated via zoom church, so I adapted and have read in almost all the services since being online.

May 6, 2020

Episcopal Student Center

Episcopal / Anglican Communion

Texas

Austin