Message from Pastor Agu Irukwu to RCCG Pastors
Greetings, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I am sure that we are all aware of (and keeping abreast of) the current worldwide situation that we are facing as a result of the Covid-19 viral pandemic. As we grapple with these unprecedented circumstances as well as the turmoil and uncertainties that have since ensued, I would like to reassure you that the Leadership of RCCG are, first and foremost, committed to ensuring the wellbeing of all of our members. In the same vein, we are also committed to ensuring the wellbeing of members of the community at large and determined to play our roles to the best of our ability in overcoming this crisis.
We have been keeping abreast of the rapidly evolving situation of this pandemic, especially the Government guidelines and the advice from the medical and scientific communities that have been put in place for the management of this crisis and any relevant information that will enable us address this threat to human life and societal wellbeing.
We all have a responsibility to play our parts in helping to combat this outbreak, and this involves being mindful of all the guidelines that help in preventing infection by the virus, as well as being mindful of ways to prevent potential spread of the virus to others. I am sure that most of us have received these detailed guidelines about coronavirus (COVID-19) for health professionals, businesses, schools and other organisations (last updated 13 March 2020) and published by Public Health England; but if not, please follow the link attached: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-ofguidance#guidance-for-non-clinical-settings Recently, the government announced that we are moving out of the ‘Contain ’phase and into the ‘Delay ’phase, in response to the Corona Virus Covid-19 Outbreak; and the UK Chief Medical Officers have now raised the risk to the UK from ‘Moderate ’to ‘High’. Over the last 24 hours, the UK’s response to the pandemic has been ramped up with the announcement, by the Prime Minister, of social-distancing measures to limit the spread of the virus. Please refer to the Government’s ‘Guidance on social distancing for everyone in the UK and protecting older people and vulnerable adults.’ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-socialdistancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults
The Prime Minister, in his speech in this regard, advised avoiding mass gatherings, crowded places such as pubs, clubs, theatres, restaurants and other venues. Whilst this advice was not as clear as we would have wanted, a question was posed on the floor of the House of Commons the following day by an MP, specifically regarding places of worship.
In responding and offering guidance on what constitutes a large gathering of people – as it relates to religious communities, churches, mosques, gurdwaras, etc, the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, stated: “…in our advice to avoid unavoidable social contact, we do include religious groups in that…. so, with the deepest regret and with the heaviest of hearts, we do include faith groups and gatherings of faith within the advice.” We have since made informal contact with people in government to confirm and verify the above. Taking all this into consideration, we are advising that the RCCG complies with the advice that is stated above. What this would entail, would be as follows:
Church Events The position of the RCCG is that all major church events over the next 4 weeks should be postponed. This will allow us to take stock and determine further courses of action as things evolve. RCCG Events The General Overseer has directed that RCCG events are to be postponed until further notice. These include: The Workers Rally, the Festival of Life, the ‘Flame ’Youth Festival of Life event and the Ordained Ministers Conference. Church Services We strongly recommend that regular church services in the form of physical gatherings should be suspended for the time being. We will continue to monitor the situation on a weekly basis to determine our response to any changes that occur. We are encouraging all our churches to explore other means of providing church services to our congregations – primarily through online transmission of those services; but also including new forms of technology like Zoom, Periscope etc. Team / Group meetings In this same vein, we also strongly recommend that group meetings that normally take place physically in church should be postponed for the time being, for the safety of our members. In the meantime, we would advise that each parish should develop means of communicating and engaging with its members and teams be used over the coming weeks.
These include the vehicles mentioned above, as well as webinars We appreciate that some of our churches are relatively smaller in size and their numbers may not constitute mass gatherings in the sense intended in the advice by the government. We however want to reiterate that the health and wellbeing of our members is our number one priority. This responsibility for the health and wellbeing of our members places an onus on us to do all that we can to find alternative ways to continue our worship of God (rather than physical gatherings), certainly for the next 4 weeks. Bearing in mind that we are being asked to make radical changes at very short notice, the Central Office is on standby to provide templates, infrastructural support and basic training to ensure that this switch is as seamless as possible; within the limitations and constraints of the time it is required to be done and the times we are operating in. We are also asking and will be calling on our pastors who pastor larger congregations and who might have more experience and more resources with regards to these new methods of communication to support our churches who have need of such support.
We do not see these circumstances as challenges that will stifle the church, but we see them as new opportunities for the gospel to be preached in new ways. I was struck by what one of our young ladies said to me: “PAI, prior to these pandemic, we came to you. Now, you have to come to us”. I have an unshakeable conviction that the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is going to come out of this stronger, more relevant to today’s society, more impactful and better able to connect with a generation that lives on the internet and social media.
We would like to also encourage ourselves to take advantage of this opportunity to show the love of Christ in very practical ways to the communities that we exist in. Gross darkness might have come in the form of this pandemic, but it is obvious that our Lord is saying to us to Arise and Shine with the love of Christ into this darkness. And as charity begins at home, let us pay particular attention to the elderly and those who are vulnerable within our church communities. In this regard, we are categorically asking that all our churches ask those who are 70 years and above and those who have any underlying medical conditions to absolutely stay away from any kind of physical gatherings.
Finally, as these are unprecedented times, we must also respond with unprecedented prayers. As I prayed in the early hours of this morning, I heard very clearly a clarion call: “The Watchmen should go to their posts”. There was such a sense of urgency to this call. I got the sense that a window had opened (unlikely in a natural sense in the present circumstances). The Lord then very strongly laid on my heart, this scripture: “I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, who will never hold their peace day or night; you who (are His servants and by your prayers) put the Lord in remembrance (of His promises), keep not silence. And give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth”. Isaiah 62: 6 – 7 (AMPC). The Lord said: “Many watchmen are distracted by many things, but the call has gone out to rouse the watchmen and encourage them to man their posts”.
As we all know, the RCCG has a ‘Watchman ’ministry to this nation and we are humbled by that calling of God. We are therefore in the process of drawing up a prayer initiative as our response to where we find ourselves at this point in the life of the Nation. Some of these initiatives will include round-the-clock praying in the form of a parish or two standing in the gap on each day until the pandemic comes to an end. We have a promise from God that ‘when we pray, He will hear and will answer and show us great and mighty things’; Jeremiah 33: 3. What the enemy meant for evil, God will turn around for good. Let us therefore join our faith together to believe that all these happening will be the harbinger of the Revival we have been praying for.
We will continue to monitor the ongoing situation closely as it evolves from day to day, and keep you informed. God bless you as you continue to lead the people of God in these challenging and uncertain times. We are assured that the Great Shepherd Himself, will watch over His church.
God bless you.
Pst Agu Irukwu Chairman, RCCG