Perhaps armed with the information that the dreaded Coronavirus is yet to gain entry into the state, Christians, on Sunday, across Delta State trooped to their various churches for Sunday worship.
Checks revealed that a few churches with headquarters far away from the state who could muscle the technological capacity ministered to their members through the internet and electronic media in their various parishes.
Among such churches were the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Salvation Ministries with headquarters in Port Harcourt and Father’s House Bible Church in Warri, among others.
At RCCG, Shekinah Mega Parish, Delta Province 2 Headquarters, Edjeba, Warri, the church auditorium was full to its usual capacity with a record of about 17 newcomers and 11 new converts.
The service, which started at 7:45 a.m with Sunday School, saw members being made to sanitize their hands at the entrance of the auditorium as a precautionary measure against contracting the scourge.
During the service, worshippers sat a chair away from each other while the church media crew beamed other precautionary measures sourced from BBC Pidgin to the viewing and hearing of the worshippers.
Pastor-in-Charge of the Province, Pastor Ezekiel Olukahunsi, in his message taken from Psalms 91:1-16, urged the congregants to, rather than fretting around, return to their Creator who owns life and a sure refuge from all pestilence.
He also urged them to adhere to personal hygiene and other precautions in order to keep the scourge at bay.
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Checks at the Salvation Ministries satellite church in Ozoro indicated that Pastor David Ibiyeomie, whose message was beamed live to the worshippers who are mostly students of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, reiterated the fact that there’s no disease that’s incurable to God.
Tribune Online observed that the regardless of Covid-19 scourge, the people of Isoko area went to church en mass as usual and the church services were incredible.
A witness, Miss Jelisa, who’s a student of the polytechnic said “the population was much than we expected; adding that there weren’t any precautionary measures taken by most churches.
At the Salvation Ministries where the respondent worshipped, she disclosed that “we did things we weren’t supposed to, like, we did handshakes among the congregation and ushers before and after the service started and we danced and worshipped regardless of coronavirus.”
Besides RCCG, Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel, Lower Erejuwa in the heart of Warri, which this Correspondent visited, witnessed a large attendance, but measures were in place to mitigate the virus.
At the entrance were wash-hand basins with soaps and sanitizers which worshippers making entry to the auditorium were made to make use of.
A worshipper, at the Winners Chapel, disclosed to Tribune Online that the church made sure every worshipper was administered with the hand sanitizer, saying “though the mood was relaxed, the church did not fail to make intercession against the coronavirus for the whole world.”
However, shaking of hands and hugging were not allowed among the relatively normal population which was in high spirits.
Resident pastor of the church, Pastor Testimony Adeyinka, imployed the church and Christians worldwide not to relent in praying for the world for the eradication of the plague in his message titled: “Winning the war against the plague of coronavirus.”
St Andrew’s Cathedral in Warri made sure that there was washing of hands of all those who came to worship. The attendance was, however, low compared to how it used to be.
Besides, Holy Communion that was to be taken was suspended while shaking of hands was disallowed and suspended indefinitely among worshipers while the service ended earlier than usually scheduled.
The Vicar, Venerable Paul O.G Whiskel encouraged the worshippers in his sermon to draw closer to God for refuge.
At Father’s House Buble Church, located at Effurun and led by the founder, Pastor Richmond Taliegh, the Sunday worship service was temporarily suspended as they were requested to participate online in their homes.
The church authorities had, before the service, sent messages to members of the church through social media to stay at home and glued to their internet devices.
“This is to remind us that Father’s House Bible Church has suspended all church services, meetings and fellowship indefinitely due to the prevailing situation around us.
“We are invited to watch the live broadcast online at facebook.com/fathershousebc from our homes today on YouTube, Facebook Today Sunday at 9 am,
“You can also listen to our internet radio on FHBC RADIO Warri Nigeria.
“Kindly share this information on your personal pages so that we can all fellowship together today.
“We will share the links to the radio, Facebook and YouTube as soon as start live broadcast starts.
“Please prepare the data on your phone or laptop to enable you to join without interruption.
It will be interactive that is you can make comments on the YouTube and Facebook pages as the service progresses,” the message available to Tribune Online read.
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