Pandemic forces Metro Detroit religious leaders to change Holy Week, Passover plans

DETROIT – With Palm Sunday, Passover and Easter Sunday happening within the next week -- it’s an important time for many religions.

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 15,718 as of Sunday, including 617 deaths, state officials report.

Several church goers gathered in person in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic at Southfield Reformed Presbyterian Church on Passover Sunday -- services that are also streamed online every Sunday.

RELATED: Archdiocese of Detroit announces cancelation of Holy Week celebrations as coronavirus cases surge

Rabbi Mitch Parker at B’nai Israel Synagogue of West Bloomfield said his members will be making use of the Zoom app to bring everyone together.

“We try to use the technology to maintain community with our members,” Parker said. “If we can’t sit shoulder to shoulder, at least we can see each other and sing the songs together and relay the message of what happened in Egypt.”

This will likely be the case until that stay at home order is lifted.