Closed By Coronavirus For Over A Year, One Harlem Church Hosts A "Trial Run" On Easter Sunday arrow Members of United Baptist Church on 145th Street in Harlem welcome parishioners back after more than a year since COVID began. View all 4 Veronica Jackson rose extra early on Sunday morning to perform a cherished but lapsed ritual: she got dressed up to go to church. "I'm what you call a praiser," she said, standing tall in a dark dress and heels. "And I really missed being in the midst, and just experiencing the songs and the fellowship." Jackson, a nurse, was among the roughly 90 congregants that convened at Harlem's Union Baptist Church for a special Easter Sunday service this weekend. The church is one of several prominent Black churches in New York City that have been closed for more than a year since the coronavirus pandemic began. Although churches across the state have been allowed to hold limited gatherings since the summer, many have yet to reopen, opting instead to continue holding online services. But as the pace of vaccinations increases in the city, Union Baptist is among those that have decided to experiment with a gradual reopening.