NewsWatchgh.com is overwhelmed that with the directive of the President of Ghana on March 15 for the suspension of public gathering and social activities, many Christians in the West African country of Ghana had no option than to be glued to their television and radio sets as well as some also resorted to social media handles to watch and participate in Church services a week after the suspension.
Sunday, March 22, 2020 marked the first Sunday of the four-week period when the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, placed a ban on social gatherings as a measure to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the country.
Tomorrow March 29, will be the second Sunday after the suspension and we are happy many Christians will again be glued to their TV and Radio sets and the internet to watch and participate in Services.
With the clear directives from the number one gentleman of the land and from Religious Leaders, Newswatchgh.com is happy many Churches of other faiths, Dioceses and Parishes adhered to the directives of their Church leaders by watching and participating in Services on TV and other social media handles.
This, in our view, is a positive initiative and act of respect by Churches in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the Catholic Church as an example, many Dioceses made the efforts to either stream-live Masses of their Bishops on social media, some on private television and radio stations while a number of Parishes also did live streaming of Masses on Facebook and You Tube by their Priests to the admiration of their faithful.
We are extremely happy, some Bishops of the Catholic in Ghana were also on some TV and Radio Stations as well as online. In Accra for instance, Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp celebrated live Mass on Crystal TV Plus, a private television Station which was also streamed live on Facebook, with over 16,000 joining.
The televised Mass by the Accra Archbishop was described by some faithful as very good initiative which should continue since it will go a long way to reach out to more Catholics.
As part of the Mass, the Archbishop read a Pastoral Letter he issued on March 19 to Christ’s faithful of the Archdiocese which Newswatchgh.com will encourage Catholics to read everyday.
In that Letter, the Spiritan Archbishop of Accra assured his faithful that “you are not left alone in this time of crisis” and “the Church cannot abandon you in the midst of COVID-19,” very inspiring message in the view of Newswatchgh.com.
Similarly, the founder and General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Pastor Mensa Otabil on the same day(March 22) noted in a live streaming that in as much as prayer is needful in these crucial times of COVID-19, people must adhere to safety instructions as well Which Newswatchgh.com perfectly share same view.
During the live streaming of Sunday, March 22, church service on the GMAbc platforms, eTV Ghana and Happy Fm, he stated that God has given humans the rod and staff to comfort us, just as said in the Lord’s Prayer.
However, if people only resort to prayer and ignore the rod and staff, which is the ability to wash hands, and the whole knowledge on how to be protected from Coronavirus, then it is of no use.
Pastor Otabil said, “God, in the midst of danger, has given us the tools to be protected from destruction and from danger so when we hear things like banning flights and quarantining, and we hear things like border closure and planes not flying, it is part of God’s process to keep us safe. Thy rod and thy staff”.
Newswatchgh.com shares in the view of Pastor Otabil that “The virus does not just get people. It doesn’t have that power. It cannot just run into your room or your house, it cannot run into you and destroy you. Thankfully, it has to be brought to you or you have to take it to somebody. Isn’t it amazing that we know how to stop it? Thy rod and thy staff.”
Just like other churches across the country have had to resort to social media livestream to broadcast a 45-minute service, the Superintendent Minister Right Reverend Edward Ofori-Donkor of the Bethany Methodist Church said “We were not able to have our normal service as we used to do because of the situation we all know. So we had live streaming of our service for the day.
Newswatchgh.com takes the opportunity to urge Churches at least to adhere to the presidential directives even if it will inconvenience them. Yes, it will surely affect financial positions of Churches but this suspension in our view could be a blessing in disguise to save us from contracting the deadly virus through social gatherings.
We are therefore happy that with the live telecast of Church Services on March 22, some Ghanaians have shared their views on social media on the positive impact of it and what can be done to improve upon the use of new media (Social media). “The live streaming is good but one needs data to watch on platforms. Therefore many families will not be able to participate in the Mass” and “I suggest the individual parish priests encourage families to gather to watch the Mass by their respective Bishops on designated TV stations,” a laudable suggestion Emmanuel a veteran media practitioner Emmanuel Vorgbe on one of the Catholic Whatsapp platform.
In conclusion, Newswatchgh.com indeed appreciates the many great suggestions it had monitored with one being that the Catholic Church should rather get a slot on national TV or television Stations that is much more accessible to most Catholics across the country for Sunday Masses. Of course, it comes with much higher cost and we should appeal for contributions to deepen the cost through Mobile Money among others.
The responses alone received from members of Churches across the country are very commendable and indicate that people are gradually getting in tune with the online services shared by their respective parishes.
Source: Newswatchgh.com Editorial Team
