Churches in Aberystwyth are planning to go online this Easter so people can still mark the resurrection of Christ during the coronavirus lockdown.

Aberystwyth churches are having to rethink how they go about celebrating Easter in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Church in Wales LMA of Aberystwyth, which is made up of St Michaels, Holy Trinity, Santes Fair, St Ann’s and Llanychaearn, are preparing services that will be streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Speaking about the new way of doing Church, the Rev Cei Rees said: “When we were told that our churches had to close their buildings in response to Covid-19 we knew we had to think of ways of doing church. 

“In the Bible, Church is never referred to as a building. 

“The Church is people. So, given the advances in technology and social media we knew that we could still come together to worship, even though we are apart.”

Rev Mark Ansell, vicar and area dean, added: “For a lot of people Easter is an important time of year. 

“It is a time when people think about their faith, as together we remember Jesus’s death and resurrection. For some it is the only time of the year they go to church. 

“We knew we had to do something so that people wouldn’t miss out. We can still celebrate Easter.”

Rev Liz Rees added: “We want to welcome as many people as possible to celebrate Easter with us online. To us it doesn’t matter if people have been coming to church for years or have never been through the doors. If they are full of faith or have none. 

"Everyone is welcome. That is true for church online as it is if you were to visit one of our buildings on a Sunday.”

The churches in Aberystwyth have been steaming services online since the lockdown began. 

They have also been adding other content, such as short talks, prayer services, Sunday School activities and ‘weekly challenges.’

On Easter Sunday worshipers can expect much the same as they would do in a regular church service. 

“There will be a welcome, a time of reflection, hymns, songs, prayers, talks and Holy Communion,” said Rev Cei. 

“We will still be worshiping God and celebrating Easter. The only difference is we won’t be physically in the same place. We look forward to the day when we can go back into our church buildings, but until then we can still meet together.”

A service will be streamed online at 2pm on Good Friday and at 11am on Easter Sunday.