Easter is a starkly different one today for Christians, who are adapting to celebrate their most important festival amidst social distancing restrictions.
Instead of bustling church attendance, worship bands and communal meals, many will sit in front of a screen at home to quietly remember a momentous gathering about 2000 years ago.
On the first Easter, Jesus' 12 disciples were huddled in fear and sadness after seeing their leader killed on a cross.
At this gathering, the bible says the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples. Christians believe Jesus died for the sins of the world and rose to defeat death, giving hope for a new life with God.
In Melbourne's inner north, Merri Creek Anglican church pastor Peter Carolane will sit in his living room and deliver an Easter message via Facebook Live.
While in-person church gatherings offer formality and structure Reverend Carolane has chosen a different style on camera.
"We've tried to tone down the energy levels to try to make it more intimate," Rev Carolane told AAP.
He has upped his technology skills in the last few weeks to improve his offering, such as skyping other people into the stream and adding pre-recorded video.
Some church members will video conference in small groups for morning tea afterwards.
Rev Carolane was encouraged by a large online audience on Good Friday, including those who are not ordinarily church-goers.
"I feel like, as people are realising they're not in control of their own lives like they thought they were, and western liberal democracies have not got all the answers, that people are thinking about what really matters in a new kind of way," he said.
Not all church leaders have found it easy to adapt.
Anglican parish priest Steve Weickhardt in Port Lincoln, South Australia said he felt a "really deep grief" about Easter this year.
"Easter day is a real blow," he told AAP. "That's our DNA."
He will not provide an online service for his 40 elderly congregants, but has pointed them to online services run by other churches.
Instead he will ring the church bell at 9am and they will know he is sitting down to pray for them.
Catholics in the Sandhurst diocese of regional Victoria will be able to tune in online to a service livestreamed out of a church building.
Chair of the Bendigo Interfaith Council and retired priest Monsignor Frank Marriot told AAP the viewing numbers of online mass so far had been pleasing.
At 82, Monsignor Marriott said he'd done well to navigate the Zoom video conferencing program for church meetings.
In his Easter message on Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Christians should live out their faith by abiding by social distancing restrictions and looking after their community and loved ones.
Australian Associated Press
