As worship centers open across the country, several faithful have discovered their way back to churches and mosques. In this report, FEMI OGUNTAYO examines the scenario in churches as stakeholders across the country recount their positions on devoted service and after COVID-19. emergency closure.
In December 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic erupted in Wuhan, China, and then spread across the nations of the world, everyone was afraid to the bone, judging by the number of patients he recorded in some complex countries around the world such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and some primary Asian countries such as China , India and many others. When the pandemic nevertheless hit Nigeria on 27 February, more than six months ago, the federal government was forced to announce a lockout measure and ban meetings in public places, adding mosques and churches, i. e. in Lagos and Abuja, where there was an increase in the number of others who contracted the virus. These rules have not worked well in some sectors, namely In the Christian Circle. Many pastors, in particular, believe that the Church needed to pray against the “flagella” called COVID-19.
The closure was not limited to Nigéria but witnessed the closure of various offices, businesses, cinemas, gazebos, stadiums, centers of worship all over the world and this has wonderfully influenced many things, especially the way other people meet for occasions and people are now used to the ‘new normal’, adding online meetings. However, this has had a wonderful influence on other people’s perspectives on devotees and has also reduced the number of physical visits since the reopening of churches in Nigeria, two months after their closure in order to prevent the spread of COVID- 19 in the country.
Ayobami Abimbola, hill Churches’ lead co-pastor and vice president of Ever Growing Impact Ministries of the city, who spoke to the Saturday Tribune about the effect of closure on Christians, said Church attendance remained the same and after closing. in many churches and also showed that in some churches attendance declined a little. “Some believers in Christ have literally fallen into a state of apology because of the long age of absence of non-secular supervision provided to them through their pastors who are the non-secular pastors selected by God for their church life,” he said. she said.
However, the faithful in Nigeria and around the world have set out to use various online platforms such as YouTube, Zoom, Facebook and many others to sign up for devoted online services. Prayer meetings, worship sessions, music concerts, councils, sermons were held. online and several churches were able to use Paypal, Quickteller, online bank transfer and many other electronic payment platforms to obtain tithes and offerings from their members.
These processes and routines lasted several months and began with the new standard, as church members can simply enroll in church services, pray with other members, and pay their tithes and offerings online and from the comfort of their homes. Deolu Oyebode, a law enforcement officer and member of Living Faith Church, also known as Winner’s Chapel, who spoke to Saturday Tribune about how this new popular has replaced people’s attitudes toward devoted services, discussed how the closure of COVID-19 has led to construction in online church attendance.
“Devoted service went from offline to online. The pandemic gave the church another chance to succeed in millions of people with the presence of social media. For example, Living Faith Church, also known as Winner’s Chapel, has an average attendance of 500,000 fans, consistent with online service, while the capacity of the Canaanland Auditorium is 50,000 people. This is a consistent 1000% increase,” Oyebode said.
Speaking more about how closure also adjusts the narrative in churches, especially about the length of time churches spend during installations, Oyebode said, “Another very important lesson to learn from closure is that there was an option for churches to maintain their facilities. in two hours. Previously, some churches kept their facilities as long as they could imagine under the excuse of “according to the commandments of the mind. “But now all facilities are controlled in two hours without wasting any vital facets of the service ».
However, in telling their reports through the observation of online religious service to the Saturday Tribune, several Nigerians revealed that the era of lockout was a revelation to them, as they learned that, in fact, they can worship God without necessarily physically converging in a position with others. Adedeji Aderibigbe, an entrepreneur from Abeokuta, Ogun state and a member of a Pentecostal church, said he had never thought of the strict presence of devoted service as the foundation of his faith, but of his non-public communion with God, which he believed was what mattered.
“The lockdown helped demystify the doctrines that had enslaved many of them. Not before the lockdown, some other people never knew that Sunday was equivalent to another day. Interestingly, the lockdown has exposed other people to new tactics to achieve the same effects through online services. For me, my religion helps to continue to develop regardless of my church attendance of physical construction. Church is other people and everything we do outdoors, physical construction is a mirror image of the church, “he said. .
For Tosin Adeyemo, a member of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Ibadan, the lockdown made him realize that he doesn’t really want any prophet before he could make a breakthrough or face one of his trials. “I learned that as disciples of Christ, We Christians are the Church. I had a greater understanding of this locking up. It also replaced my mindset that if I am not in a giant congregation, then I will dispense the congregation of believers and cannot worship God until I place myself in a congregation.
“I will have to confess that it replaced my religion and made me perceive that as Christians we can consult God at any time and at any time, even before a trial. God answered me and listened to my prayers, I did. I do not have to wait for the prayer of God’s men, to make my religion higher and I learned that each and every Christian or child of God is a prophet or a prophet of himself.
“Our shepherds are interested in tithing and offerings that in our well-being”
Ms. Funmilayo Eleyinmi, a public civil service member living in Ado-Ekiti and a member of the Church of Redeemed Christian God (RCCG), also shared with Saturday Tribune how the closure gave her a clue that God can answer her prayers wherever he is. , regretted the fact that pastors never cared about the well-being of their members in this period. “Our pastors are interested in tithing and offerings rather than the well-being of their church members, possibly God will help us,” he said. Said.
In addition, other Christians, who also spoke to Saturday Tribune, revealed that they were able to save money for themselves and that they had enough time to expand spiritually. A Lagos-based media practitioner who said she had no name explained how she learned she was spending too much on church activities and how the lockdown taught her how to cut church spending, which in turn helped her save cash for her.
“For me, blocking the coronavirus is a revelation, the churches are looking for cash and I’ve made the decision to cut my spending on the church now. I kept a lot of the lock, which made me realize how much cash I had sent. the exchange of church inventory without being able to make my assignments non-public. I’m a new user now “My non-public assignment first”. I will have to confess that I am more satisfied now when I give cash to those in need and believe it is even greater because Jesus has set out to give to the poor.
“Before, I don’t think I can live without going to church, but now I know I can. What I want is to communicate with my God and he will actually respond. I don’t want a prophet or a fortune teller to tell me what to do now because I prayed without consulting them during lockdown and told them a bigger story. It did not replace my confidence that Jesus is the Lord, but in fact he replaced my way of life. I’m using my Sundays for anything else now. It’s not obligatory for me to go to church every Sunday, I decide randomly,” he says.
Some faithful also confessed that they were never happy with the passage to church because most of the time they were forced or tricked into moving to church. The church of Ajayi Emmanuel did not resume his physical activity and while recounting his joy at locking himself up in Saturday Tribune, Emmanuel, who, before the pandemic, was a perpetual believer, said he was not praying that they would resume physical examination because it took too long and never had time for his business.
Emmanuel is an entrepreneur and according to him, the closure of the churches had helped him to rediscover himself and now has more time for his business than when the churches were open to the physique. one of theArray one would be considered a sinner and you would even have been called to ask why you didn’t come. Too manyArray didn’t even have time to do non-public business. Now, thanks to those virtualArrays I can attend to my convenience without necessarily having to go wherever I am. In fact, for now, I don’t need us to resume physical collection because this online service will pay me,” Emmanuel confessed.
“COVID-19 is a truth, a call for attention”
Oludayo Olorunfemi, an outgoing lawyer and president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ikere-Ekiti, is not a fan of devout activities. According to her, she discovers all the collections and “rituals” they distract. “The closure of churches shows how our salivation, walking with God is an individual career, if you were only making apparitions, if you had not prayed before, if you did not have appointments with God, if your Christian life was tired through the apron of a devout leader, etc. Is your Christianity about men or God?He asked.
Another jurist, member of the Apostolic Church of Christ (WOSEM), Moferere Street in Ado-Ekiti, M. Adelusi Ilesanmi, from the opinion that it is no longer the hours that one spends in the church that counts, but the point of faith, because he also learned that he can be at home and continue to attend devoted services.
“With lockdown, many now see, adding me, that they can stay in their various houses to pray in opposition to the same old jamboree from Sunday to Sunday. The truth has now become transparent to others, which is not the number of hours spent in the church that still counts the point of your religion in God. Anyway, lockdown allowed me to pray personally in my space without necessarily having to go to church on Sunday or any other day. Remember that I am sure that other people’s catephases may “I do not yet attend devoted service in the state of Ekiti. Now I see you go to church because you can be in your room and pray or attend an online service, unlike before,” he said.
Assistance you have in our churches – Pastors
A strict adherence to COVID-19 physical distance preventative measures, a stopover at some of the major churches in the city of Ibadan through the city of Ibadan through the Saturday Tribune revealed that church attendance had decreased, compared to previous installations. Speaking to the Saturday Tribune about this, the dean of the Harvest House Academy at the Harvest House Christian Center in Akobo, Ibadan, ‘Ron Yemi Omotunde, explained that members and new fans were actively engaged through various online platforms. and even now.
“Looking at attendance comparisons before and after closing, physical assistance is now lower, those who do not receive physical assistance regularly enroll on other platforms. Physical distance automatically reduced the seating capacity of all church facilities. that assistance is no longer the word, participation in the facilities is either online or on site,” he said. However, he asked for that, members can enjoy virtually one ministry to some extent, and he believes he deserves to be studied in depth, he did not replace physical assembly.
The general closure of churches during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to many, would decrease the payment of tithing and provision to churches. Many members who spoke to Saturday Tribune revealed how they still pay churches through online transfers, while some saw the blockade. as an opportunity to save money for themselves.
Speaking of this, Ms. Ayobami Abimbola, lead co-pastor of the City on The Hill Churches, said: “I personally see tithing and the gift of offerings depends on the individual. An obedient and benevolent donor to God will do so The word of God obviously teaches that we should not borrow God from tithes and offerings. speak your gift to God.
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