Following up on conversations to extend the easing of the necessary lockdown to religious institutions, the general overseer of the Guiding Light Assembly, Pastor Wale Adefarasin, has insisted that his church won’t open after the government allows for it.
Responding to a question about where he stands regarding the clamour for reopening of churches from some quarters in the body of Christendom in Nigeria, he reiterated that while indeed physical worship trumps worshiping through electronic devices, he is personally responsible for his congregation and as such, “even if the government says churches should start opening, we won’t open. We will wait and observe how this pandemic pans out first. The Lord didn’t put his children in our care for us to put them in the line of danger. It is common sense, and that is a gift from God that He no doubt will question in the hereafter how much of a good use we made of it, if at all.”
Pastor Wale said this in an IG Live session with the founder of Joy Inc., Chude Jideonwo, in a 21-day series titled “Retail Religion,” themed “The Future of Faith” and aimed to host front line leaders from different faith communities.
The conversation centred around the role of the church in current realities and is a pull-out from #WithChude, a special series of targeted multimedia conversations and investigations. The series which aims to address issues of fading spirituality among congregations will centre how religious can refocus their congregations towards fighting the pandemic and how to navigate, spiritually, this period and beyond.
This series began May 11, 2020, and will run through June 2020, at 6 pm every day. It kicked off with Pastor Idowu Iluyomade of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, City of David parish. And would feature guests like Ituah Ighodalo, Nurudeen Lemu, Ayo Sogunro, among other respected voices from the different faith communities.
Those who listen in will glean from the conversations with these spiritual leaders and learn how to navigate current realities – one of which is physical isolation from the community at a time when they most need support – and the new possibilities that will emerge for religion and religious activities after the pandemic has passed over us.
The Future of Faith series is presented Y!/YNaija.com in partnership with Radio Now. Follow Chude on his Instagram page @chudeity to join in the conversations.
