With President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing the nation on Sunday evening about the cabinet’s plans for the country in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the decision on gatherings of more than 100 being prohibited, many church goers are wondering what the next step will be. Bloemfontein Courant has had interviews with different church leaders on how this call by the President will affect Sunday services and mass church gatherings.
Reverend Jan Lubbe from the Dutch Reformed Church Berg-en-dal in Dan Pienaar said that church leaders and congregations in every region will have to take responsibility now. “We have a church council meeting where we will talk about the issue at hand and how we are going to deal with it.
It is a difficult decision because it affects church services and events. It is also not only about 100 or more people at a gathering but also meetings of 10 only people because the spreading of the virus has to do with physical interaction. All churches and denominations now have a responsibility to the vulnerable, the elderly and people who already have diseases such as lung diseases, etc. It is a difficult decision for churches on how to respond now. We will decide tonight and communicate with members over what will happen in the course of the next 4 to 5 weeks,” Lubbe said.
In an interview with Pastor Willie Norris from Gospel Work Ministries in Heidedal, he told Bloemfontein Courant that this has a major effect on the gathering of Christian people. “Gatherings of Christians are affected by this but we have been preparing in advance, we will communicate to the congregation via SMS and come together in small groups. I think the Sunday services will mainly be affected by this,” said Norris.
The Towers of Hope, which is also known for their feeding scheme, will continue to help the less fortunate. This is according to the reverend De la Harpe le Roux. “We are not going to stop giving food because we are concerned about our safety. We must be there for them now more than ever,” said Le Roux.
Church leader and pastor, Langa Fokase from the Bloemfontein West Church, said their approaching Easter Celebrations will be highly affected by this as they have had big celebrations lined up. “This has a huge effect on our church and we have called an urgent church council meeting to address this issue. We will communicate our decision to the congregation after this. It is a hard decision to make, so we ask church members to pray about this,” said Fokase.
Pastor Marius Jacobs from the Worship Centre’s 50th Birthday Celebration is coming up on 28 March 2020. The congregation has invited five guest pastors from Africa to come down to join the celebrations. These plans, however, had to be put on hold. Not only has this had an effect on the planning and celebrations but it is also affecting the finances of the church as flight tickets have already been booked. “This has a massive impact on everything but we have to stay obedient and listen to what the President said. We also trust the Lord for a breakthrough,” said Jacobs.
Most church leaders and church councils have gathered this morning to discuss the way forward after the President’s address.
Pierce van Heerden
