Mixed reaction from churches to restrictions on gatherings

Worshippers at some Pentecostal and evangelical churches across the country showed up for their weekly Sunday services, adamant that the country needed prayers now more than ever despite restrictions on gatherings imposed by the Mia Mottley administration.

While some congregations took action to restrict their numbers, others vowed to implement the necessary changes from next week.

“We can’t shut the house of God and no weapon formed against the house of God can prosper. So we will just work with caution, follow our leaders and work with what we have to work with,” said Bishop Medford of Mount Holy Calvary Church at Sion Hill, St. James.

“The church has to prevail and when people need someone to call on and somewhere to go and when someone needs someone to call on or someplace to go, they will go to the church,” he added.

Nevertheless, he told Barbados TODAY that elderly people had been instructed not to attend, but some of them showed up anyway.

“We will continue to have church with some of the younger ones until the Government says to close the doors, but we are praying for Barbados, we are praying for the first responders in the island, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and all the medical people so that God will lift this fire from under us in Jesus name,” said Bishop Medford.

Elderly church member Daleen Bryan was among those who arrived for the service, explaining that her decision was based on her belief in “the Lord Jesus Christ” and his ability to “save”.

“We are going to keep worshipping God and believing that God is going to fix every situation and do all things in his time. We don’t need to get weary in doing well…so we are looking to Jesus for help. In the three and a half years I was attending this church, we have never restricted our members and we are here gathering together in the name of Jesus. No restrictions,” she declared.

Since recording its first cases of COVID 19, authorities restricted gatherings to no more than 100 people, before revising this figure 25 people on Saturday evening as Barbados entered phase two of its response.

A stone’s throw away was Deidre Thorne, a member of Power in the Blood Assembly at Upper Carlton, St. James where just a handful of church-goers had assembled.

She explained that a decision was made on how many people would be allowed into the church while stressing that Christians across the country had a responsibility to pray for the nation regardless of whether they were in a church setting or not.

“We are abiding by the laws of the land, but we believe that we have a responsibility to pray for our nation, our citizens, our brothers and our sisters through this storm. The church cannot be afraid in the same way as the rest of the country. We have to trust the God that we serve and that we know will see us through this time,” she told Barbados TODAY. 

“We have to comply but we will work within the framework of the laws of the land but we will work within the framework of the laws of the land but we will still pray. Others will pray from home but a few of us have come out to pray in the church,” Thorne added. (KS)