– Religious leaders encourage reflection amid pandemic

By Dillon Goring
CHRISTIANS worldwide look forward to the traditional celebrations during the Easter season.
Good Friday and Easter Sunday are the times when Christians all over the world attend church services, with church buildings packed to capacity.
But since the pandemic outbreak in December 2019, several restrictive measures have been put in place, thus limiting the number of persons that are allowed to gather in one place. These restrictions, therefore, extend to Good Friday and Easter Sunday Services and church in general.
The Pepperpot Magazine spoke with two pastors to get their perspectives on the comparison between services held for the Easter celebrations before the pandemic and now that the pandemic is upon us.

Missing traditions

Evangelism Pastor of the New Covenant Ministries, Eureka Aderemi, related that the celebrations themselves have been severely affected due to the restrictive measures that have been put in place to curtail the spread of the virus.

“ Even during Easter Monday, we would normally go on an excursion, that has been cut out too; we as a church didn’t go on any excursion, we didn’t go last year and this year we aren’t going either, so yes, COVID has affected coming together per se,” Pastor Aderemi told the Pepperpot Magazine in an interview.
She also mentioned that even the attendance at church services to commemorate Easter have been somewhat affected, because persons are now required to attend services in fewer numbers than usual, because of the requirements instituted by the COVID-19 Task Force.
Pastor Aderemi added that the church has implemented measures to combat this effect by using the strategy of having more of their services online. She further added that the church also encourages social distancing in its large building during physical services.
“We have a building with the space and the capacity. We have three levels, the third level is really functional, but if needs be, it will be utilised,” the Evangelism Pastor told the magazine.

But while observances for the celebrations might be curtailed because of restrictions, Aderemi is of the view that the enthusiasm and excitement are still there regarding the celebrations.

The joy of seeing someone face to face, greeting them with a hug and the ability to mingle with them without inhibition, whenever and wherever there is a social gathering of families has been absent since the advent of the pandemic, and during her interview, Pastor Aderemi noted that with the absence of their attributes, it has put a damper in the manner in which she personally has enjoyed the Easter observances.
“ There is no excitement. I really want to see people, I really like that contact, it is so different now, we can’t even get to hug our brothers and sisters anymore because of COVID,” Aderemi related to Pepperpot Magazine.

Staying safe

Assistant Pastor of the First Assemblies of God Church Pastor Wilbert Lee said that the measures used to curtail the spread of the virus, have certainly put a damper on congregational gatherings of families for Easter observances
“ It is because you don’t want our acts to be in violation, we can’t hug, we just a bounce, for example, Easter Monday, we would have gone out and all of that, but we want to be compliant, so as a result, that has been cancelled and we don’t want to make activities of the church a super spreader event, so we want to stay within compliance of restriction. We would advise families to stay within their small groups, and avoid large family gatherings,” Pastor Lee told Pepperpot Magazine.

Meanwhile, Pastor Sean Wilson of the New Testament Church shared similar sentiments about the effect of the pandemic on personal interactions.
“As a result of the restriction and our understanding of how COVID-19 is transmitted, we recognise that a lot of the ways we interacted with each other had to be radically adjusted, so that one year later we still have not really come to grips properly with adjusting,” he said. “I think all of our lives or most of it, we have had the opportunity of being a people who are accustomed to meet and greet in a physical way; now having to change that behaviour, presents a challenge, “ Pastor Wilson told Pepperpot Magazine.

The Guyana Chronicle is quoted as saying in an article dated April 12, 2020, that for many Guyanese, Easter is about big family gatherings, picnicking at the park and beach or time spent at church.

But this year, those events are off the table, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic bears down across the globe.
There will be no church gatherings, parks filled with families picnicking, nor the skies filled with a kaleidoscope of kites, due to social distancing.
The Protected Areas and National Parks Commissions have made a decision to close the parks and beaches across Guyana for the Easter Weekend, in light of the presence of COVID-19 here. The zoo was also closed too.

Due to this historically unprecedented change to the celebrations of Easter and Passover, churches across the country have moved their in-person mass or services online, in response to the virus, by using Skype, Zoom, Facebook live and other electronic means.