Philadelphia church cancels in-person Easter Sunday service

Hank’s Take: Philadelphia Reverend holding Easter Mass despite coronavirus pandemic

FOX 29's Hank Flynn has the story.

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia church has canceled its planned in-person Easter Sunday service due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Former Eagles running back, and current reverend at Greater Exodus Baptist Church, Herb Lusk, was planning on holding three morning services Sunday. Lusk expected to host 50 people inside the 650-person venue.

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"We understand the guidelines and we're going to be extremely, extremely rigid about making sure we protect lives of our people," Lusk said.

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Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was supposed to be handed out, with parishioners sat in accordance with social distancing guidelines. Lusk assured his congregation would be safer inside the church than they would in other public spaces.

Instead, the church's Easter Sunday service will be livestreamed online.

The church has also canceled all in-person services until further notice.

Coronavirus has currently impacted more than 6,000 people in Philadelphia alone, with 160 related deaths. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday said the federal government is monitoring Philadelphia as a potential hot spot for the novel virus.

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