Covid19: Stop complaining, donate your churches as Isolation centres- Bakare to Church Leaders

The general overseer of The Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has described the agitations by some church leaders against the closure of the churches due to Corona Virus as ‘lamentations.

His position was made known in a broadcast shared by his church social media platforms on Sunday. He said:

“This morning, I would like to bring ethical correction to some of the lamentations of certain people within the church over the ban of congregational worship in churches across the land, while markets and hospitals are allowed to operate,” 

“I am so glad that not only churches are prevented now from congregating, the mosques are also on lockdown.

“The government’s order to open the markets to operate for a few days is to prevent hunger, especially in the life of daily earners because the palliatives from the government cannot go to every citizen in their homes right now.

“Those churches with multiple facilities, rather than their leaders criticizing the government, they should collaborate with them. They must be prepared to offer some of their halls to governmental authorities as isolation centres in support of the efforts of the government,” Bakare said.

The Good Samaritan

Bakare added that “after all, it was to the safe custody of the Inn Keeper that the good Samaritan in the parable of The Good Samaritan kept the wounded man left for dead on the way to Jericho.

“The Inn Keeper is the pastor, the Inn is the church, the wounded man is the sick world, and the two denarii are wages for two years because a day with the lord is like a thousand years.

“I recommend that our church halls be made available to the government as isolation centres, and those of us who could afford it should be there to support the government.

“I am not suggesting what we are not prepared to do. We have already done that in our church. We have offered two of our facilities to the Lagos state government and the private residences we have in Abeokuta we have offered also to the Ogun state government.

“Brothers and sisters, we should all thank God that there is no distance in the spirit–lockdown or no lockdown and that the church is not the building but the saints of God, that is the body of Christ.

“So if we cannot congregate because of the present lockdown, we can be very effective in our neighborhoods as our brothers’ keepers and our various workplaces for those involved in essential services and other daily earners that are permitted for now to go about their trade or business for a few hours of the day.”

What do you think about Bakare’s view?