The church community is unhappy over a decision to limit congregations to 25 persons in the new COVID-19 directive which took effect on August 28.
They say it is unfair that the majority of churches which have no issues with clusters are being punished for those that do.
In fact some of the leaders, who have suggested that the latest move to significantly reduce numbers is like closing churches again, want to know how come businesses are not suffering the same fate.
Minister of Health and Wellness Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic has said that 13 of 48 new cases recorded last Friday came from a church.
Last Saturday, Attorney General Dale Marshall, during a press conference announced that this week, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley intends to meet with church leaders to discuss the new directive.
Marshall warned that churches operating in small spaces will have fewer numbers and stressed that the six-foot physical distancing protocol must be followed.
Archdeacon Venerable Eric Lynch of the Diocese of Barbados, who is also a member of the Barbados Christian Council (BCC), said churches thought they were on a growth path and in a position to assist in the national effort to manage the country through COVID-19.
Archdeacon Lynch said larger denominations have been successful in preventing outbreaks among their congregations through ensuring that physical distancing is maintained and other protocols are followed, including ensuring that persons sign a registration book to allow for contact tracing.
He said: “We kept the physical distance in the church, they had gone to three feet on either side. It would have hurt some of the larger churches when they imposed an actual number on us. Now if you think about a church like, let’s say the St Michael Cathedral. One hundred persons in a seated capacity of 1000, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“But nevertheless, that is what it was and we said okay. And we thought that whatever the developments were, unless it could be shown to us that a change in the numbers that they were allowing us would have a deleterious effect on the whole health of Barbados, that we would at least maintain that for a while and even have more numbers.”
Lynch, who intends to attend the meeting with Government representatives, suggested that churches operating in confined air conditioned spaces should be appropriately managed by the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit.
The senior Anglican cleric said: “Let us help those that are weak and need assistance, that’s all we are saying. If anything else, let’s target those that need that. And I think that is fair in this situation.
“When you have a large space that the air is always flowing through and you have engaged in all that you have engaged in and you can show that there has been no outbreaks or have not contributed to the outbreaks, why are you being punished?”
Senior Pastor of Restoration Ministries International Church Apostle Dr David Durant is also adamant that the majority of the churches are following the protocols and even doing their best to enforce rules to prevent the spread of the virus.
Durant reported that many churchgoers are upset over the latest development. The apostle questioned the rationale of literally locking down all the churches if just one or two have been found not to be observing the protocols.
“The other churches that are observing and doing all that they could and all that they should do, it is not fair to them. If, for example, one of the business places has a cluster, you would not close down all the businesses, you deal with that particular business and that is fair. Why can’t the same courtesy be extended to the church community?”
Meanwhile, when contacted, another church leader indicated that he was upset with the new protocols for churches which led to drastic changes to Sunday services. However, the church head said he would prefer not to comment at this time. “I might say what I should not be saying,” he stated. (anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
