Clerics welcome resumption of services

Churches and other faith-based groups in Barbados are ready to welcome back congregations to their pews, but assure it would not be at the expense of their health and safety.

That was the feedback this afternoon to yesterday’s announcement by Attorney General Dale Marshall that religious services will be permitted after weeks of restrictions on mass gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The reopening of the places of worship is governed by the density protocol which allows for the resumption of face-to-face worship on the basis that churches can allocate a minimum of 40 square feet per person.

Attendance registers must also be taken to facilitate contact tracing and persons with a temperature higher than the requirement will not be allowed in.

Today, the head of the umbrella group of Pentecostal Churches here said while they are anxious to reopen, safety and health will be paramount.

“Of course, any opportunity to be able to come back to some semblance of togetherness is always welcome. We appreciate the fact that we still have to put the protocols in place. So it is not that we are just going to rush back in there, we have to make sure when we do it, we do it correctly,” Executive Secretary of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the West Indies (PAWI) Rev Selwyn Brathwaite told Barbados TODAY.

Chairman of the Barbados Christian Council (BXC) Major Darrell Wilkinson, while welcoming the relaxed restrictions, also supported the Government’s safety and health conditions for reopening.

“I don’t think we can do much at this time but we are feeling better because we only had 20 [limit on gatherings] and now you don’t have a restricted number, but what you have is the density system…the requirement is a little more than we expect. I thought it was going to be about 30 or 36 square feet,” said Major Wilkinson.

“But again we can understand their thinking because they said that the virus stays longer within the building and moves around much more, so therefore more space would be required. Also the church members would be in a building for longer periods…some an hour, some an hour and a half, some two hours. That is a long time,” the council leader noted.

Major Wilkinson suggested that Government should have considered limiting the length of services in order to minimize any possible exposure to the virus.

However, he believes the situation will get better and his organisation will monitor progress over the next two weeks.

“In the next two weeks we will see exactly how it goes and I think that by the end of next month we will have a better arrangement, provided that it doesn’t escalate,” the church leader stated.

He also said he was pleased so far with how the country has been able to manage the spread and is urging, not only his members, but all Barbadians to trust the science with respect to the directives.

“I know that we would want certain things, but again, we just have to be patient and give it time,” he suggested.

Another prominent church leader who heads a widely popular ministry, is not only speaking health and safety, but has actually introduced a model for other assemblies to emulate.

Senior Pastor Reverend Dr Lucille Baird said her 25-year-old Mount Zion’s Missions Inc may have been the first church in Barbados to introduce protocols from phase one of the COVID-19 directives.

“I implemented the protocols at stage one. My frontline ministry workers were outfitted with masks and gloves for when they touched people and the same personal protective equipment was used by those at the door of the church,” Rev Baird explained. She told Barbados TODAY she is happy they can now return to the place they were ordained to be.

According to her, when her churches reopen, it would not be business as usual with regards to the serving of the free meals which had been going on for the past two and a half decades.

“We served free lunch every Sunday for the last 27 years. So what we are doing now when we go back to church, as we started it at stage one, we will have take-away meals. The meal will be prepared and a tent will be set up outside. Our church has three levels and on the second level, we have the dining hall, but nobody will go into the dining hall. The food will be ready, all packaged and people will take them as they go through the door,” the Mount Zion’s Missions founder announced.

“We are also using the temperature guns. So last Saturday, I had someone come in and conduct training on the use of the temperature gun with five of my frontline ministry workers who will be at the door. And it is not only the use of the temperature gun you want to train them on. You also want to train them in how to be sympathetic to one whose temperature might be high.  You might be worried they have COVID…how do you comfort that person? How do you get that person to return home?” Rev Baird said.

She also disclosed that persons with high temperatures could still be in a position to hear the service without being inside the sanctuary.

“If they are with family members you can’t send them home. We have a section on the outside…a cabana area where they can still hear the service…it is a lovely, nicely-furnished seating outside. That is already prepared.”

The church leader thanked the Government for lifting the restrictions on churches and said all of her counterparts across the island would agree with her that the churches will follow all of the protocols.

“I have confidence in my fellow ministers that they would follow the protocols,” Rev Baird added.

The local Muslim community has also welcomed the lifting of restrictions on faith-based organisations as they joined with the churches in the quest to prioritize health and safety.

“I think generally the Muslim community is happy with the easing of the restrictions. It will make for the mosque to reopen and be able to have services even though we know there are protocols to be followed. I know that the mosque committees are currently looking at the protocols and making sure that they put everything in place,” secretary of the Barbados Muslim Association Sulieman Bulbulia said.

Noting that the mosques have been closed for weeks, Bulbulia said muslims have been anxious to get back to worship especially during Ramadan and for Eid.

“We recognize that we could not do that and we did abide by the protocols that were established and everybody did prayers at home. So we do welcome the ease in restrictions and we will seek to abide by the rules in the reopening phase,” the spokesman for the Muslim community promised.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb