Above photo: Rev. Charles St-Onge at Ascension Lutheran Church in Montreal

Photo by Johanna Heidorn

With Holy Week falling in the middle of a worldwide pandemic lockdown, Ascension Lutheran Church in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, made creative use of technology to host an international Easter vigil service online. English speaking Lutherans from Belize, Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Panama, Brazil, Canada and the United States joined in the service via Zoom on Holy Saturday. Users on some 45 computers, tablets, or phones were logged in to the virtual Easter vigil. A number of the devices had two or more family members joining in the service, resulting in an estimated 70 attendees in total.

The vigil included twelve readings from Scripture that summarized the Lord’s promises to save His people from sin, death and the devil. Participating in the readings were eight pastors in their respective countries across the Latin America and Caribbean Region and Spain.  

Special guests included The SELC District President, Rev. Waldemar Vinovskis, Rev. Dr. Arthur Just, Associate Executive Director of Regional Operations — Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, Rev. Ted Krey, Regional Director for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, as well as Rev. Charles St-Onge, who serves as pastor for the host congregation and also area facilitator for LCMS mission work in Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.