POLICE in Bulawayo yesterday arrested congregants of the
Revival of Jesus Miracles Ministries in Nketa suburb for conducting public
services in violation of lockdown regulations, as most churches resorted to
conducting virtual services in compliance with the ban on public gatherings.
Nine congregants were arrested yesterday morning shortly
after the church service and taken to Tshabalala Police Station where they each
paid $500 admission of guilt fines.
When Chronicle visited the police station, congregants were
being taken out of the cells where they had been detained to pay fines at the
charge office.
Reverend Thompson Nyathi defended his congregants, arguing
that their arrest was illegal as “we maintained hygienic standards and
practised social distancing during the entire service. We are fully aware of
the proclamation by the President of a total lockdown and ban on public
gatherings, but we believe the raid was unlawful as our gathering had less than
30 people, some of whom were arrested after the service. Everyone had their
hands sanitised in line with Ministry of Health and Child Care guidelines and
regulations,” he said.
Members of the Revival of Jesus Miracles Ministries at
Tshabalala Police station yesterday. (Picture by Nkosizile Ndlovu)…
Rev Nyathi claimed that they were not the only ones who
violated lockdown regulations.
“We were not the only church around that opened for
service, but there are other churches some of which discreetly conducted
services in houses, but unfortunately, we have just been targeted after police
received a phone call from someone in the locality who notified them of our
so-called illegal gathering,” he said.
“However, when police and soldiers came, they found that we
had finished the service and most of the congregants had left the premises save
for a few who were later arrested and taken to Tshabalala Police Station.”
Under the 21-day lockdown regulations, all public
gatherings are banned, except for funerals where there should not be more than
50 people.
A Chronicle news crew moved around the city and observed
that a number of churches had their gates under lock and key in compliance with
lockdown regulations.
President Mnangagwa recently announced a nationwide
lockdown as the country steps up efforts to confront the deadly Covid-19.
Before the announcement that left only a few essential services
running, most churches had already announced the cancellation of services.
Several churches in Zimbabwe this year cancelled their
traditional Easter retreats and resorted to live streaming their services
during the 21-day lockdown.
Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin) or Resurrection
Sunday, is a festival and holiday when Christians will be commemorating the
death and resurrection of Jesus, described in the New Testament as having
occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the
Romans at Calvary.
The cancellation of Easter church meetings follows a
directive by President Mnangagwa banning gatherings and declaring the lockdown
as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
During the lockdown period all citizens are required to
stay at home, except for essential movements to seek health services, buy food,
medicines, other essentials and critical services.
Church leaders said the cancellation of public services
during the Easter holiday is in compliance with lockdown regulations to combat
the spread of the deadly global pandemic, which has so far claimed more than
110 000 lives with more than 1,8 million people infected globally. The World
Health Organisation (WHO) has since declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.
Some that took to live streaming services on Facebook are
struggling to keep the numbers as worshippers cannot afford data to watch
services.
A majority of churches have resorted to opening groups for
services and using the cheaper WhatsApp platform.
Chronicle observed some families following sermons on
social media. Rev Jabulani Mafohla, who is the District Superintendent of the
Church of the Nazarene (Zimbabwe West District) and a pastor at Emganwini
Church of the Nazarene, said they cancelled Easter gatherings and resorted to
virtual services.
He said sermons on WhatsApp have enabled congregants to
observe the most important services on the Christian calendar, Easter, marking
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “We delegated each other duties a
week ago and this means we have someone who will record voice notes to deliver
the sermon, teach Sunday School and conduct the devotion. These people are
given ample time to prepare their sermons and teachings and they then record
them on their phones before sending them to our church secretary who will in
turn share them on various social media platforms with our congregants,” he
said.
“On Sunday like this one, we have just finished our
services for the day. We sing and then record that singing and share with
others and we are doing these as families because of the lockdown, which was
necessitated by Covid-19.”
He said it was important for Christians to continue
partaking of the word despite the lockdown as the bible clearly states in
Matthew 4 verse 4 that man cannot live on bread alone, but needs every word
that comes from God’s mouth.
Rev Mafohla said virtual services were so successful that
they could be adopted even beyond the lockdown for congregants who could not
make it to church for various reasons.
“Through social media, our services have included members
in UK, Binga and remote parts of the world. Everyone has received edification
from God’s word. This Covid-19 could be a blessing in disguise as God’s word
has reached people who were normally excluded from physical services,” he said.
Mr Samson Mukondo of the Apostolic Faith Church and his
family of four conducted a family worship service at his home in Tshabalala.
“We are conducting this family worship service as we
commemorate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our gate is locked and
we are not allowing our children to go outside as part of the measures to
combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus,” he said.
When the news crew arrived at Mr Mukondo’s house,
journalists were sanitised at the entrance and the principle of social
distancing was constantly maintained.
Mr Samson Mukondo of the Apostolic Faith Church and his
family of four conducted a family worship service at his home in Tshabalala.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) leader
for the Western Diocese, Bishop Michael Dube said their Easter virtual
services, which were livestreamed and shared on various social media platforms
progressed well.
“We smoothly conducted our services and everything went
according to our plan. However, sadly our congregants in rural communities
missed out largely because of lack of access to modern communication tools,” he
said.
Bishop Dube said they urged their followers to open
WhatsApp groups for the purposes of sharing the sermons, scriptures and songs
during the Easter holiday.
Harvest House International Church Leader Bishop Dr Colin
Nyathi said they ran their virtual church services without any hurdle.
“We conducted our virtual services and shared them on
YouTube and Facebook and our congregants also had an opportunity to listen and
watch the sermons and bible teachings via livestreaming.”
The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church said it adopted a
lengthy period of long-distance worship with congregants encouraged to turn to
digital platforms.
To promote social distancing and minimise the spread of the
virus, members worshipped privately in their homes with the necessary support
in the form of livestreaming, downloading or printed worship packages and
sermons, which were availed to members through their pastors.
The Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland Oregon in Southern
Africa urged its members to participate in its Easter meetings via WebEx, an
application for web conferencing and videoconferencing.
Pope Francis and other Christian leaders gave their annual
Easter addresses over the internet as churches stood empty and countries around
the world continue to extend lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The pontiff broke with centuries of tradition and
livestreamed his Easter Sunday mass to allow the world’s 1,3 billion Catholics
to celebrate their holiest holiday.
The church has also indefinitely suspended obligatory Mass
for the vulnerable and banned some traditional church rituals such as shaking
hands and receiving communion with one’s tongue to contain spread of
coronavirus.
The Catholic Church regards the Easter period as
obligatory, meaning congregants are compelled to attend every Mass and
gathering during the period which starts with six weeks Lent until Easter
Sunday.
The Zion Christian Church (ZCC) hosted its annual Easter
Celebrations from small decentralised locations across the world in light of
the Covid-19 pandemic and not from its Mbungo pilgrimage at the Mbungo shrine
in Masvingo province.
The ZCC annual gathering at Mbungo had become one of the
biggest church gatherings in the country attracting people from different parts
of the world while enterprising business people and companies always cash in on
the gathering. Chronicle
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