After a year of COVID, in-person Easter services return

Times Photography Staff
·2 min read
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: A church member with hands raised worships during Easter Sunday service at New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church amidst the pandemic on Sunday, April 4, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A church member with hands raised worships during Easter Sunday service at New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church amid the pandemic on April 4, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A woman speaks in front of people in seats.
Pastor Sonja R. Dawson preaches at an in-person Easter Sunday service at New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Two people join hands.
Churchgoers at New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Three people sing.
Crenshaw Christian Center's Praise and Worship Team, from right, Brooke Brewer, Caleb Minter and Christine Crosby, prepare for Easter service singing in socially distanced and partitioned enclosures on April 4, 2021 in Los Angeles. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A woman in a face mask raises her hands and other people with masks are seated.
Stephanie Smith, director of services and hospitality ministry, attends Easter Sunday service at New Mount Calvary. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A girl sleeps on a chair.
Jenise Martin takes a nap during Easter Sunday service at New Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A woman on a couch reads a book.
Denice Daye reads a bit in Los Angeles' View Heights neighborhood before the start of Easter service on April 4, 2021. She and her grandson Donte Murray will participate in a digital Easter service. Last year, online services were new and a little awkward, but she's prepared now. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A cross on a beach as surfers appear in the background.
A surfer rides a wave as worshipers sit on the beach during Easter services in Redondo Beach sponsored by River Church of the South Bay on Sunday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
People gather at a beach in front of a cross.
Worshipers sit on the beach during Easter services in Redondo Beach. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A white cross and children on a rocky terrain.
Grandchildren of Larry Craig play on Sunrise Rock in Cima, Calif., where every year for decades dozens of parishioners have gathered in the Mojave Desert to celebrate sunrise Easter service held by him. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A man reads with a sunrise as a backdrop.
Home missionary Larry Craig goes over his sermon before sunrise Easter service. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
People sit in chairs in the desert to watch two people sing.
Home missionary Paul Craig, left, flanked by his son Larry Craig, singing hymns, holds sunrise Easter service on Sunrise Rock. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Two men sing in the desert at sunrise.
The Craigs sing hymns. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.