NASSAU, Bahamas — Zion Baptist Church Pastor T.G. Morrison yesterday blasted new protocols that permit churches on New Providence to hold services in parking lots amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the government “does not have the power” to tell the church what to do, the Nassau Guardian reported on May 25.
“…No government has the authority to tell the church it can’t keep Sunday school,” Morrison told The Nassau Guardian. “The Eucharist, the Lord’s supper, the table of the Lord, is the highest form of Christian worship. It is recalling the salvific activity of God and Jesus Christ on Golgotha’s hill and no government has the authority to tell the church that it cannot keep the Lord’s table. The government does not have the power to tell the church that it can only keep service for an hour. The government does not have the power to tell the church that it must keep service in a parking lot. Those things are out of the purview of the government. I would dare say, to go further, that more pastors need to take their stance and more persons who practice their faith and take their faith seriously ought to take their stance and act on the courts of the house of the Lord.”
A new order released on Friday outlines that worship services not exceeding an hour could resume on New Providence and several Family Islands, as long as worshippers stay in their vehicles and adhere to social distancing protocols put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Offering baskets are not allowed to be passed from vehicle to vehicle, but offering stations are allowed. Individuals over 65 or with comorbidities have been asked not to attend drive-up services.
Morrison said his church on Shirley Street and East Street will not host “any parking lot service.” See full article in the Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/05/25/morrison-govt-has-no-authority-to-tell-church-what-to-do/?fbclid=IwAR2gqK6anxYsEwfGzdHLY68STKsfIoHSyhUBXchLdE4KJfMgyU4xJyhcA4U
