Easing restrictions: Don’t rejoice yet, there’s more work to be done – Opuni Frimpong to churches

Former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong has sent a word of caution to churches nationwide, following further easing of restrictions for religious bodies.

President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his 14th address to the nation on Coronavirus and government’s intervention measures, noted that religious bodies can now operate with full capacity of its members, within a 2-hour period.

This was an improvement on the previous 100 persons to 1-hour directive for such institutions.

Many, including the Christian Council have welcomed the move, describing it as a step in the right direction.

Rev. Opuni-Frimpong who agrees with their stance however has an advice he says should be considered religiously to avert any spread of the virus in congregations.

The Presbyterian Minister believes more work must be done by Church leaders to enforce all safety protocols amongst members and avert any unfortunate situation where the church becomes breeding grounds for the virus.

In an interview with GhanaWeb Tuesday, July 28, 2020, he said;

“To me, the churches should not say hurray. COVID-19 is real, we should not behave like the government or someone else was disturbing our peace... I think we need to also take caution here in terms of accepting responsibility for the health needs of our people. COVID is real and the churches must make sure that it should never happen that somebody comes to church and gets infected whilst in church,” he said.

Adding,

“We must do whatever to avoid that. So even if we have 100% or 80%, we must make sure that we are very responsible when it comes the health of people…Churches must go the extra mile…. It takes a healthy nation to build a healthy church. If Ghana is not healthy, there’s no way the church in Ghana can be healthy.”



He however expressed joy about the decision of government, noting that it is a big relief, for Christians particularly.

“The recent address of the President, updates of COVID-19, especially the portion that affects gatherings of religious people, we all welcome the news with some joy. Not having time to worship has not been easy because there are those who have spiritual renewal when they worship, they pray with others,” he noted.