The Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola has said the decision by the Lagos State government to keep the worship centres closed was taken in the best interest of Lagosians.
He also called on church leaders to intensify prayers that God will bring an end to the pandemic.
In an interview with Church Times on Tuesday, Apostle Bamgbola said it took a while for the government to decide to rescind its earlier decision to open worship centres.
He said CAN had been having series of online dialogue with the Lagos State government since COVID-19 invaded the country. The virtual meetings according to him were also attended by several prominent Church leaders from the five blocs of C.A.N. Some either attended personally or by representation.
He said the most recent virtual meeting was on Saturday, June 13. It was attended by the State Deputy Governor, Dr Femi Hamzat, and some other cabinet members including The Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi.
He said Professor Abayomi, a renowned Professor of Medicine, “took time to give detailed figures and indices with a professional explanation to us all, on the Coronavirus pandemic trend, in Lagos State. It was not encouraging, but we continued to encourage ourselves in The Lord our God and insisted on opening the Churches on June 21, 2020.
“The Deputy Governor spoke passionately on the present situation and the trend elsewhere around the world. The Governor listened carefully to all in attendance, as usual. He made it clear to all in attendance on that day that he would still consult with other stakeholders in the Society before taking a decision based on the reality of the moment.”
Bamgbola then explained that the governor took “a decision based on the facts available to him as the Governor of the State, in the interest of life and security of all the peoples of Lagos State. He stated his reason clearly, that based on the available data and trend of the unfortunate manifestation of this pandemic as at today, it is not safe to open the Churches and Mosques for regular fellowships. Hence, the postponement of the opening that was originally approved for June 19 for mosques and June 21 for Churches.”
While noting that many Churches were fully prepared to open he said, “in all situations, as people of God, we must rest in the grace of God’s Word in Romans 8:28. All things work together for the good of those who love God and those who are called by his name.”
He then appealed strongly to all leaders of Churches, Ministers of The Gospel of Jesus Christ and all Christians in Lagos State, “for necessary understanding, calmness and peace in this season. Most importantly, we need to intensify our prayers much more now, so that The Lord will hasten to perform His Word, in taking this Coronavirus pestilence away from our land.”
He called for continuous intercession for the church and those in authority so we may continue to live a quiet and peaceful life, in our dear State of Lagos.
On whether the church was not demonstrating enough faith, Bamgbola explained that faith does not translate to being foolish and presumptuous. “That we are abiding by government regulation does not make us foolish. We need to obey the government of the land. Moreso they are not saying we can’t pray or serve our God. Some of us may have faith but we should not endanger the lives of people that are babies who don’t have faith in healing. And we should not expose ourselves unduly. That is the point.”
