In 45 years of ministry, he can only recall asking people to stay home from church twice. Now he's preparing to celebrate Easter in an empty sanctuary.

Pastor Bruce Martin from Calvary Temple church in Winnipeg, Man. says he wasn't too keen to close the church's doors. Many were doing so before churches were limited to gathering in groups of 10 or less. "If it wasn't for younger staff I wouldn't have done it. But I listened and they convinced me it was the right thing to do in order to be a good neighbour and to care for our members."

So the doors of Calvary Temple, like most church buildings across Canada, are closed. And they'll stay closed this Easter weekend.

But Martin is not convinced it will be any less meaningful. It's a risen Jesus we worship, after all. A saviour that conquered the grave on behalf of creation.

In fact, Martin says, there might be an opportunity to reach people with the Easter message this year like never before.

He says there have been plenty of silver linings the past few weeks. That includes his young staff teaching him about live-streaming, and seeing the impact that such possibilities have. "The first stream alone we reached nearly 2,000 views and that number keeps growing. And you have to remember that's households - each number could be three, four, or more people."

Martin says people are open to hearing a message of hope right now and it's very easy to share a link to a stream with those people.

He also says he feels in some ways they've been able to provide pastoral care better than ever. While nothing replaces physical presence, online meetings have helped them make contact with more people in less time. 

So, while this Easter won't be like any other in a pastoral career that's stretched almost half a century, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's forcing Christians to realize what exactly the Church is - it's not a building, but the people of Jesus. And the Church, Martin says, is poised to spread the Good News of a risen Jesus to a world that is eager to hear.

Share with your friends streaming services this week and pray for the people that stumble upon those streams.

A phrase has been making the rounds online the past week, and it couldn't be more true: Church buildings might be empty this Easter, but so is the grave!