Hayes Barton hosts Easter services on the 50-yard line

Hayes Barton Baptist church in Raleigh held an outdoor service this morning and it was a welcome sight for many.

Easter Sunday: Churches make safety preparations for in-person gatherings

And it certainly was. A happy, sunny Easter at Enloe high school as 500 people came together to celebrate. Pastor David Hailey says this is the first time they’ve had this amount of people together for a service in a long time

"Most Easters we usually have eight or 900 people in the church and we knew we couldn’t do that," Hailey said. "So, we thought maybe here we could do something and have more people gather together."

Those who attended had to register online and crowd was limited to 500. Mask wearing was mandatory and everyone was spaced out for social distancing. And even though it wasn’t inside a church, pastor Hailey says they tried to make it as normal, and safe, as possible

"We have our orchestra, we have our choir, we'll have congregational singing behind masks," he said.

Hailey also says he is so grateful to the high school for lending them the football field for a day.

"We just felt like if we could do something in person it would be a little bit more in keeping rising up up the level of Easter Sunday," he said.