The senior pastor of the Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, Sam Adeyemi, has said gathering members together for physical church services might prove difficult after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The clegyman noted that over the couple of weeks members have adopted and embraced the online mode of worship from wherever they are.
Adeyemi, who spoke during a monitored Instagram live interview, tagged: “Iforowero” with BBC News Yoruba said: “That’s an issue I have pondered upon severally because the church may not be the same again after this COVID-19 experience. As you can see, many people have been receiving messages via online broadcast from their homes. It’s no longer like before that they have to be physically present in churches,” he said.
“Now that many have been used to worshiping God from the comfort of their rooms, will they go to church when COVID-19 is finally over? Many Christians may also feel relaxed on Sundays when they usually go to church.”
Adeyemi also said the COVID-19 outbreak has afforded many Christians the opportunity to evaluate the extent to which their churches actually care about them.
“Also, many Christians have start questioning the genuineness of their churches for them with little or no help coming their way during the pandemic period when hunger is holding sway,” he said.
The cleric said the pandemic should teach church leaders and those occupying political offices that there is need to show humanity to one another if truly Nigeria hopes to grow.
He also expressed displeasure over the devastating effect of the pandemic, saying he was pained that churches were closed.
The cleric noted that everyone must bear with the situation and hold on for a while.
Alluding to how a church in South Korea got affected by the outbreak of the virus, he said: “The church members were badly hit by this infectious disease and the pastor had to go about seeking for forgiveness.
“Even if there is going to be social distancing in our churches, how many services are we going to hold? Looking at the differences between churches with big number of members, we have to be careful and remain calm because there is no vaccine yet… As a preacher, I travel all around. But I have remained indoor with my family.”