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Christians pray for Covid-19 end as churches reopen
People convene outside a church in Eastern Uganda on September 26, 2021. PHOTO/OPIO SAM CALEB
What you need to know:
- Most churches split services and complied with the state directive- not to exceed 200 people including the clergy and choir.
Churches reopened Sunday with praise and worship as congregants prayed to God ‘‘to end the Covid-19 pandemic’’ amidst calls for vaccination.
In Busoga Su-region, the Vicar St Mark Kamuli Municipality, Canon Rebecca Mudondo warned Christians against complacency over the Covid-19 SOPs as she ensured that all congregants sanitized and used the pews well.
“God has answered our prayers and purposefully had us in check for tolerance, perseverance and tested our faith so we should not get excited and forget to follow the government restrictions,” she echoed.
Other clerics like Bishop Eddie Munene of the Busoga Born Again Church, Bishop Eddie Munene, Pastor David Balabyekubo of Revival Glory and Rev Fr Okao, the Parish Priest of Kamuli Catholic Parish rallied people to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Most churches split services and complied with the state directive- not to exceed 200 people including the clergy and choir.
Masaka Diocese Bishop Serverus Jjumba sanitizes before entering a church at Ssaza Parish on September 26, 2021. PHOTO/GERTRUDE MUTYABA
Ushers checked temperatures of Christians who would later be subject to mandatory social distancing once inside churches.
Bishop Jjumba urged believers ''not to get tired of wearing masks daily since many of their beloved ones in the diocese like Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa have succumbed to the viral disease.''
''We shall all be alive if everyone follows what the doctors recommend.
Bishop Munene said: ‘‘Plagues are biblical and have always been overcome through restrictions, isolations and faith. We should adhere, promote and be mobilizers for vaccination, curfew, isolation, testing and SOPs,” he said.
On the public mindset against the vaccination exercise, Bishop Munene urged government authorities to fight disinformation.
“The first lockdown was full of misconceptions and conspiracy theories that Covid-19. It is our mandate to teach, explain and clear all these,” he preached.
Revival Glory Church’s Pastor David Balabyekubo sighed with relief that Christians can now congregate and remind themselves of the need to protect and help each other.
Churches were closed in June at the peak of Covid-19 infections in Uganda. President Museveni granted their reopening last week.
