Covid 19 : More Churches Opt To Remain Closed Despite Green Light

More churches are opting to remain closed despite the easing of the restriction on religious activities.

President Akufo-Addo on Sunday announced that religious activities can now start from June 5 with a maximum of 100 members at a time within a period of an hour.

However these religious groups such mosques and churches would have to observe strict protocols by ensuring every congregant wears mask, observe social distance whiles the church put in place mechanism for taking the contacts of each attendee for onward submission to government to aid in contact tracing in the likely event of an outbreak at the church or mosques.

But it seems even before the implementation of these measures for religious bodies, some churches have opted to remain closed. One of such is Accra based Makers House Chapel International.

Founder and General Overseer of the church Dr Michael Black Nyamekye is attributing his decision to overheard cost, pressure on equipment among others.

A circular issued by the church reads “Looking at Our: Congregation size; number of services required; health of the active players in a service; overheard cost; pressure on equipment and facility and the logistics to put in place writing of names per service and submitting it to authorities as well as the Covid-19 protocols”.

“I deem it fit to announce to you that The Makers House Chapel International will remain closed for some time until we have clarity and sanctions relaxed some more. I will entreat all of you to bear the church and it’s membership in prayer, hopefully this gets over soon so we can meet and hug again," he stated.

Another Kumasi based church Destiny Empowerment Chapel International has also released a statement to suspend gathering and activities despite easing of the restrictions.

“We have only one life to live, life is more precious and priceless than gold, don’t hurry your life into death, don’t rush yourself into destruction. Remember we are dealing with varied people with variegated backgrounds hence you can never tell where someone is coming from or what someone picked up on their way to you,” the statement noted.

Senior Pastor of the Church Dr Bernard Taylor believes there are more days ahead of us to worship together hence no need to jeopardise one's life.

He says the church will continue to organise virtual service for its members until further notice.

Meanwhile, some churches have begun deliberations on the measures to assess whether they will go ahead to reopen or remain closed.

Currently, Ghana has recorded 8,070 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 2,947 recoveries and 36 death so far since the country recorded its first two cases on March 12.