Las Vegas church cancels plans for drive-in Easter service
The pastor of a Las Vegas church who had been planning to conduct a live Easter service now says the church will only stream the service on YouTube.
The Rev. Joseph Guy, lead pastor of Open Arms Community Church, 2800 W. Sahara Ave., had been planning a live service for Sunday. On Wednesday, he announced plans to stream the service on the internet with just a handful of church staff members in the sanctuary, and offered the public the option of watching the service from their cars.
However, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a few hours later that drive-in services, as well as religious gatherings of 10 or more people, now are prohibited in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Guy said after Sisolak’s announcement that the church now only will livestream Sunday’s 6 p.m. service. Three to five church members will be in the sanctuary to handle the streaming, he said, and weekly services after Easter also will be livestreamed only.
“I think that’s probably the best option for us,” Guy said, although not being able to conduct a live Easter service to open the new church is “definitely a big disappointment for me.”
Guy said his goal was to “foster a sense of community on the biggest day in Church history.” He added that he holds “a deep respect for Governor Sisolak,” but called cancellation of the live service “a hard pill for me to swallow.”
Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280. Follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.